AS GOOSE MAKES A COMEBACK ON FESTIVE MENUS, ONE CORNISH CHEF REARS HIS OWN

We aim to have fresh goose all the year round including Easter and other special occasions.

Fresh goose has always been a popular alternative to turkey for a festive feast, and this sumptuous seasonal bird is currently a real hit on the gourmet scene. But with only a handful of goose farmers in Cornwall, demand still exceeds supply. Which is why one chef in North Cornwall has turned his hand to rearing his own top quality geese.

"It’s a struggle to source decent quality geese here in Cornwall, because there are so few goose farmers producing them on any commercial scale", chef Hugo Cant tells me. "And as a chef based on a farm that has been in my family since the 1930’s, I decided I was in the ideal location to rear my own", he continues.

The large flat cliff top pasture at his family home in Tregardock, makes perfect grazing for Hugo’s gaggle of 200 geese. The fields here have never had any kind of agrochemical treatment and have always been kept as natural pasture. Hugo doesn’t approve of intensive farming methods, hence farming practice on this land are committed to low stock density in order to keep them healthy, and to minimise any negative impact on the environment.

Having worked in sporting lodges and hotels from Scotland to Cornwall, Hugo knew exactly what sort of fine quality goose he expected on the table. So he chose not any old goose, but those of the popular Legarth strain, which are renowned for their table quality. Following their natural breeding cycle, the geese were hatched in late spring and have been reared on a diet free from any additives or chemicals. Tregardock GeeseThey have been given at least 26 weeks to reach prime condition, and grazing on rich pasture has now been supplemented with barley to fatten them up.

At night the geese sleep out of harms reach in the barn, and by day they waddle out to their field with a view to one of Cornwall’s most staggeringly beautiful and remote coastlines. If their habitat is anything to go by, these are going to be the plumpest, most divine free-range geese to hit any dinner table this Christmas.

To avoid disappointment, get your orders in now for a free-range, farm fresh goose by contacting Hugo at Tregardock, on tel/fax 01840 213300 or email tregardockgeese@yahoo.co.uk