08/06/27: The duck farmer

Half an hour before the restaurant was to open, its newest supplier arrived to speak with the chef. Eric Willms, a local 20-year old, raises Muscovy ducks. He pulled up in the car he had borrowed from his parents earlier that morning when his mother – Esther, the quintessential farmer’s wife – returned from running errands. His father, Irv, is an engineer by trade but spends much of his time farming his vineyards and making wine at his home in Niagara-on-the Lake. Eric has helped out on the family farm for as long as he can remember and has developed a genuine passion for nurturing nature.

He walked up to the door and timidly stepped into the air conditioned entry vestibule. At a mere 4’11”, and bearing a single Styrofoam box, he was also the restaurant’s smallest supplier. Eric started his duck business 2 years earlier, after cordoning off a corner of his parents’ backyard for himself. Initially, he took orders and raised birds for family and friends of the family. Now he also sells his ducks to a number of high end restaurants in Niagara. He’s expanded his duck cage and has now maxed-out both its capacity and the capacity of his mother to allow further encroachment into her gardens.

Eric had brought in a sample of his Muscovy ducks for the chef to assess. In the past, the best ducks were shipped from Quebec, where French specialties such as Foie Gras and Duck a l’Orange have kept the duck farming business going strong for decades. Now, with increased efforts to keep restaurant suppliers local, and with the growth of the wine and culinary tourism industry, new food markets have opened up in Niagara. Eric is fortunate to be one of the first in the area with rare poultry.

The chef emerged from back of house and beckoned Eric to join him in the kitchen. There they laid the duck on a prep table and the chef proceeded to poke it and prod it as if a child pretending to be a surgeon. Turning it over, he inspected the layer of fat nodding his head in approval. The liver, though likely not as fatty (in this case, a desirable trait) as those available from Quebec, was satisfactory. The fact that the duck was local was of greater importance, and besides, the ethical practices of Quebecois Foie Gras farmers were increasingly being called into question.