Poultry

As I already pointed out in the introduction to the Eggs chapter, most Auvergne farms still have their little cohort of egg-producing hens, with a cock or two to fertilize them, wandering round the farmyard and the surrounding fields. There are usually a few ducks too, and, on the bigger farms, some geese and turkeys. Some farmers raise flocks of guinea fowl, the source of perhaps the most subtle-tasting of all domesticated poultry.

Until relatively recently, most poultry raised on farms was kept for market or reserved for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries or religious holidays. Only the work-weary egg-laying hen would regularly find its way to the farmers’ table (in boiled form) once its useful life had come to an end. But now that the Auvergnats are more prosperous, thanks largely to EU hill-farming subsidies (which account for more than half their income), they are able to indulge themselves more often.