No matter how much you love the rich flavour of foie gras, seared to perfection or rolled into a silken torchon, there’s always the nagging issue of gavage – the controversial practice of force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers. But on Quebec’s Île d’Orléans, chef and organic farmer Jacques Legros has created his own way of producing the delicious liver, no force-feeding required.
“Venez, venez, venez,” Mr. Legros calls as a gaggle of fat-bottomed, white and brown geese waddle noisily toward him.
The gangly Mr. Legros is a fanatic about health – both personal and planetary – and raises his free-run flock at Au Goût d’Autrefois with sustainability in mind. His organic farm and homey restaurant, just outside Quebec City, is a destination for conscientious food lovers, a place to indulge in foie gras, rillettes, tender slow-smoked goose breast and fresh produce, all produced without chemicals or fossil fuels.
“Everything is done by hand – no machines or motors here,” he says, digging a massive clump of parsley from the ground and gathering some Brussels sprouts for our late fall lunch.
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