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FREE-RANGE:Turkey, goose or duck? Whichever you choose, you'll get a better flavour from a free-range bird, says Suzanne Campbell

AS INTERNATIONAL AS food tastes have become in Ireland, we still turn to traditional choices when it comes to the centrepiece of our Christmas dinner. A roasted turkey is what most of us will plump for on the big day, but turkey itself is a blow-in to this country. The traditional “bronze” dark-feathered turkey is an American wild bird, brought to Britain and then to these shores by traders from the early 1600s.

The bronze turkey adapted well to this climate and became a fixture on farms throughout Ireland. But as our appetite for shopping in supermarkets developed in the 1970s and 1980s, Christmas turkeys needed to be mass produced and the white turkey replaced its bronze cousin. The white turkey reaches its finished weight in just 16 weeks and most of the turkeys bought in Ireland are this commercial variety, reared in indoor housing at an intense pace for the Christmas rush.

Because of its quick growing time and cereal diet, white turkey doesn’t match the taste of the traditional bronze bird and many consumers are return to what our grandmothers would have placed on the table. While a little more expensive, the difference in quality is evident. Demand from consumers has seen many Irish farms become home to flocks of bronze turkeys from late summer onwards, grazing happily outdoors on grass and a foraged diet.

Alongside bronze turkeys there are also free-range geese available for Christmas, and goose is still for many people the traditional bird of choice. And if you fancy something small and delicious, free-range duck is increasing in popularity.

For the Irish farmers behind the resurgence of free-range poultry, it’s their passion for quality food that keeps them farming in the face of tough competition from big international producers. Having faith in the quality of their produce is key, and it’s the taste that keeps bringing customers back to their door.

Orders have been taken from October, so be sure to get in early.

GERARD and PAULA LALOR

Free-range bronze turkeys

Gerard and Paula started keeping bronze turkeys 15 years ago, having previously farmed cattle on their land near Rhode, Co Offaly. “We started off with 50 turkeys, and this year we’ll finish about 700 Christmas sales.”

“It’s Ger that does the farming, I’m the townie,” Paula says with a laugh, but points out that her market for turkeys is a loyal one with customers travelling from all over the country to their farm in Laois. “People don’t start thinking about Christmas until the clocks go back, then suddenly it’s getting dark, and the phone calls start coming. We’ve had orders already and it’s getting busy, but as we’ve 700 birds we’re well prepared.”

Their chicks are started in the summer, as bronze turkeys take six weeks more growing time than white turkeys. This makes them more costly to produce, but Gerard points out “slower growth makes for a more naturally produced bird. Our turkeys roam outdoors on grass and eat a varied diet that includes apples and chestnuts grown on the farm.”

Gerard feels that commercially produced birds have no chance to develop a taste. “They are slaughtered a full month and a half younger than our turkeys.” Mass produced birds are also de-beaked, an unpleasant aspect of the stress and tensions that arise in commercial turkey houses. “It’s not necessary to de-beak our turkeys as they don’t fight, they are outside with lots to see and do, it’s the way they’re meant to be reared.”

Not only do the Lalors have to compete with the cheaper commercial product, there are enemies of free-range turkeys much closer to home. “The other evening I came out and there was a fox standing looking at me and the flock of turkeys. We have to house them at night otherwise the fox would take the lot.” If they avoid the fox, the Lalors’ turkeys will adorn tables around the country come December 25th. To order, contact ballybryanturkeys.com. The turkeys cost between €65 and €75.

ROBERT AND YVONNE FITZSIMMONS

Free-range geese

At the Fitzsimmons farm in East Ferry, Cork, rearing poultry for the Christmas table has been a family tradition. Robert’s mother produced as many as 700 turkeys for Christmas, ready to go out to customers including Ballymaloe House and Cookery School.

Free-range geese is one of their specialities and this year they have 300 birds grazing outdoors from March onwards. Geese are well known for being poultry with attitude, but Robert points out that the type of goose is key. “The variety we have are Legarth geese. They’re quiet and good to handle, and even with several hundred of them they’re an easy bird to keep.” From autumn onwards, Robert supplements their diet with rolled barley and wheat to finish the birds just in time for Christmas.

Once they’re killed in December, the geese are hung for eight to 10 days, when they lose about a pound in body weight. “This doesn’t happen with commercially produced birds, they don’t hang them for as long and as a result they don’t have the same flavour.”

Robert is seeing a return to the traditional Irish Christmas choice of goose. By custom, the first geese were eaten at Michaelmas – September 29th – as it was a “quarter day” when tenants paid their rent, sometimes in the form of a goose. “I suppose people are going back to what we ate before. Goose fat gives delicious flavour and it’s the trimmings that make the dish really special.” The Fitzsimmons geese can be ordered online. They also supply bronze turkeys. See eastferryfreerange.com. The oven-ready geese cost between €50 and €70.

RONAN BYRNE

Pasture-reared duck

Ronan Byrne was working in Poland managing a large dairy farm when he decided to come home and turn his family farm in Athenry into a poultry enterprise. “I had been handed 40 acres of land and I always had this plan in my head that I want to be a farmer, but I also wanted to operate a viable business on a small piece of land.” So poultry farming it was. He now keeps ducks, chickens, turkeys and Saddleback pigs outdoors. “It suits where I’m at and the type of small scale farming we do here in the west.”

Ronan farms seasonally, producing duck for Easter, Halloween and Christmas. “The best day to be a farmer, for me, is December 26th, when there’s not a squawk on the farm. Then we re-stock the ducks from late January and it all begins again.” His ducks are Aylesburys and are particularly well suited to the Irish climate. “They’re a nice animal to farm. They love the rain and splashing around outside.”

The finished weight of his ducks is between 2.2kg and 2.5kg. Because they are outside and exercising, Ronan feels they are a meatier bird with less fat than commercial duck and have a mild flavour. “For Christmas, they’re lovely roasted up with a bit of seasoning. And even better with a sauce made from three or four plums, stewed with sugar and water – really simple. And the skin is very sweet tasting.”

Ronan admits that while consumers are price conscious, there’s always a certain number that want quality. “If people examine their weekly budget, for an extra one or two per cent they would eat like kings. It’s as simple as that. I think there’s a bright future for good food and if you have a good product there’s a market for it.”

Ronan’s ducks, chickens, turkeys and pork are available at Galway market and Moycullen market and can be ordered by email and phone. See thefriendlyfarmer.blogspot.com or tel: 087-6203765. The ducks cost €20 each.

All of the above producers take online orders and can deliver, others sell at farmers’ markets. For butchers stocking free-range poultry, see organicfoodsireland.com and jameswhelanbutchers.com.

goodfoodireland.ie has a list of suppliers countrywide. Farmers’ markets listings can be found at bordbia.ie/aboutfood/farmersmarkets