Take a gander at goose for a time-honoured festive feast

Golden, plump and juicy, a Pipers Farm Properly Free Range Goose, which is slow reared especially for Christmas and New Year, can be the crowning glory of any festive dinner table. A Christmas favourite for centuries gone by and a popular alternative to turkey, the Devon-based online butcher’s free range goose makes for truly traditional fare and can feed the whole family and more, with succulent, seasonal and nutritious meat, which has been reared in harmony with nature.

Hatched in April and slow grown on a two-generation-run farm tucked into a steep Devon hillside, the properly free range geese enjoy a natural diet and plenty of space to flap, fly, scratch and honk. Once the birds reach natural maturity in late November they are slaughtered, dry plucked by hand and hung for 12 days, time-honoured methods honed to perfect that unmistakable texture and rich lingering flavour.

Stuffed with roughly chopped prunes, Bramley apples and onions, then served with seasonal vegetables and gravy made from the giblets, alongside wonderfully fluffy roast potatoes cooked under the goose to catch the delicious fat, this Properly Free Range Goose will make a grand centrepiece this Christmas or New Year. For smaller gatherings or last minute get-togethers, the Free Range Goose Breast and Free Range Confit Goose Leg deliver those same comforting and indulgent flavours, leaving more time to take on the nibbles, dessert and wine.

Pipers Farm’s Properly Free Range Goose, which includes the giblets for making stocks and gravy, the Free Range Goose Breast and the Free Range Confit Goose Leg, are all available to order from www.pipersfarm.com for delivery after Monday 10 December.