Peter Gott

Food & Drink

Fourteen babies look inquisitively straight at us, we move towards the gate that separates us and them and instantly they all run off to the trees. Moments later they are back, edging towards us again trying to see who these new people are; we move once more towards them and they shoot off back into the woods. Behind the gate, directly in front of us are sixteen acres of woodland dedicated to these animals, the ideal habitat outside of their native France or Germany for Peter Gott to raise wild boar.

It was back in 1993 that wild boar first arrived at Sillfield Farm. Peter’s brother bought him four wild boar to add to his variety of rare breeds. It was meant as a bit of a joke but it wasn’t long before Peter was selling wild boar meat. The babies we see in front of us are just a month or so old, they’ve still got at least fifty-two weeks ahead of them to roam around the woodland and explore the sixteen acres. Wild boar don’t reach a market weight for at least a year, when you compare that to sixteen weeks for a commercially raised supermarket pig there is a huge difference. It’s this longer life, the freedom to roam and forage that Peter thinks adds to the superior taste. “Age is so important when it comes to taste, this aim to shorten the growth period and turn animals into money quicker is wrong. Good food comes at a price and there are no shortcuts and no easy ways to get around that.”