Tasty Goose Liver in Yongkang

Pan Jiangtao

烤鵝肝。A dish of roasted goose liver

Yongkang， a county-level city with a vast rural countryside， is part of Jinhua， the very central city in central Zhejiang Province. History indicates people in Yongkang raised gray geese as early as 1，300 years ago. This deduction was made on a famous poem titled ， by the seven-year-old Luo Binwang （640-684）， a native of Yiwu who grew up to be a poet. Now Yiwu is just a stones throw from Yongkang. It could be reasonably deduced that Yongkang must have had geese as home poultry just as Yiwu had. By the way， Luo is largely known as the author of a sharp-worded declaration against Empress Dowager Wu.  is a poem almost every Chinese child learns by heart in their preschool years. It would not be hard to imagine that the poem about the goose would make the poet immortal whereas only those who study ancient classical literature would know about the declaration.

The local goose species is different： geese in Yongkang are largely gray whereas the geese often seen in the rest of China have white plumage. The tall ferocious goose often appoints itself as a security guard and keeps strangers away from its territory.

In the past， a lot of craftsmen in Yongkang had to travel to find their customers. There was no way for these people to stay at home and raise pigs which could be used as sacrifices at important ceremonies such as ancestral ceremonies. Gradually， the gray goose was widely used in folk festivities， in rural religious ceremonies and family tomb visits.

The gray goose was a simple home delicacy in Yongkang until the 1990s when Yongkang began to raise the gray geese on a large commercial scale for exporting the goose liver to foreign markets. Since then， the goose has long been a delicacy in restaurants in Yongkang and neighboring cities.

On important occasions， the goose liver is one of the best choices for diners in Yongkang and surrounding regions. On the other hand， an abundant quantity of geese with their liver removed provides a rich and cheap resource for local restaurant industry. Chefs in Yongkang have long since found ingenious ways to take a goose apart and cook different parts in different ways. The gray geese are divided into various parts such as the head， the feet， the wings， the large intestines， and the meat. These yummy dishes are prominent on the menus of local restaurants. It would not be difficult to understand that chefs in Yongkang are resourceful. Yongkang is Chinas number one powerhouse of hardware manufacturing and trade and has been hosting an annual national hardware expo for the last 20 years and more. Yiwu， the worlds biggest household commodity marketplace， is nearby. Chefs in Yongkang are as ingenious as their cousins in the hardware industry.

Local people like the French-style delicacy for different reasons： some have a passion for the mouth feel of the goose liver whereas some just love the melting as soon as it touches the tongue. A gourmet in Yongkang describes his love for the foie gras （French words for goose liver） this way： a slice of goose liver is like a kiss in the morning from your love. You tongue it and it melts there. The French-styled delicacy delivers the fulfilling sense.

So Yongkang natives like the goose liver. And they know the delicacy is one of the best dishes in the French cuisine， but the knowledge doesnt make the delicacy exotic. After all， the gray goose is local and has been around for at least 1，300 years and has been playing a central role in the local life for centuries.