Not only is the traditional Christmas goose back in favour again, speciality products such as the three-bird roast and even humble goose fat are gaining popularity with consumers seeking a more unusual treat.

Claire and Robert Symington revived the custom of a three-bird roast made from a boned goose stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a pheasant, and they will be producing more than 2500 roasts for this Christmas.

They have noticed a surge in demand for jars of goose fat which they produce during the run-up to Christmas and sell from their farm shop at Billesden, near Leicester, through the year.

“Consumers are re-discovering how wonderful goose fat is for roasting vegetables and even red meat,” says Claire Symington, who at one time was head cook at Leiths Good Food, the outside catering side of Prue Leiths organisation. “They like the fact, too, that it’s a softer type of fat relatively low in saturated fats and higher in the more desirable unsaturated fatty acids.”

Members of the British Goose Producers, part of the British Poultry Council, visiting the farm will see geese grazing the secluded paddocks before being brought into enclosures to protect them against foxes at night. They will also review prospects for the coming season when nearly half a million geese will be prepared for market with many producers selling out well before Christmas.

ThePoultrySite News Desk