Ingredients for the Known Ground reconstruction
Ingredient amounts shown for 8 servings.
Known Ground reconstruction
- 1young gosling or goose crown, breast boned but skin intact
- 6tart apples, peeled and cored; divided
- 4 tbspunsalted butter, divided
- 1 cupunsalted poultry stock
- 1/3 cupred currant jelly
- 2 tspkosher salt
Known Ground reconstruction — not personally tested
Escoffier's historical formula specifies gosling directly.
The source specifies gosling, not wild goose. A boned domestic gosling breast or young goose crown preserves the construction; the apple stuffing and jelly-filled garnish remain separate.
Instructions
1. Quarter three apples and half-cook them in 2 tablespoons butter. Season the inside of the boned breast, stuff with the apple quarters, and sew or tie closed.
2. Brown in the remaining butter, add stock, cover, and braise at 325°F until the meat and center of the stuffing reach 165°F (74°C).
3. Cut the remaining apples into thick cored rings and cook gently in butter until tender; fill their centers with red currant jelly.
4. Rest and slice the gosling, surround with the jelly-filled apples, and serve defatted, strained braising gravy separately.
Historical formula
Escoffier completely bones a gosling breast, stuffs it with quartered peeled apples half-cooked in butter, sews it, and braises it gently while basting with fat. He surrounds it with cored apples cooked in butter and filled with red-currant jelly, then serves strained roast gravy separately.
Source note
Source-preserving summary from Auguste Escoffier, *A Guide to Modern Cookery* (1907), a public-domain English edition. Source location: No. 1722b, p. 532.
Published after editorial review
Last revised 8/21/2026. Evidence and limitations should be interpreted as described in the article.
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