WASHINGTON — What’s bad for the goose may be good for the hungry.
The National Park Service and the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment have donated about 100 pounds of breast meat from captured and euthanized geese to a D.C. nonprofit that makes meals for homeless shelters and after-school programs, the two agencies announced Wednesday.
If you live near Anacostia Park, you may be familiar with the haunting honking of the Canada geese that once used the park as a migrating stop, but now stay in the District year round. In July, NPS started trying to restore the wetlands at the park, which are among the last remaining tidal wetlands in the D.C. area. But an “an overabundant resident goose population” that fed on wetland plants was hindering those efforts, the agencies said in a news release.
The two agencies moved to reduce the number of geese by what it calls “lethal control,” which includes capturing and euthanizing geese.
The breast meat from 365 geese was donated Wednesday to the D.C. Central Kitchen, which prepares meals for homeless shelters, rehabilitation clinics and after-school programs.
Maybe the chefs there will sear the goose breast meat, and serve it with poached pears as author Hank Shaw suggested in a 2010 recipe. Shaw also noted that the neck of a big Canada goose can be stuffed with ground goose meat and spices, and roasted so that it can be made into sausages. Allrecipies.com also lists many tasty-sounding suggestions, ranging from Canada goose in sweet chili sauce to wild goose breasts with orange glaze.
