The duck of the Irish

SILVER HILL first came to the attention of international gourmets when Heston Blumenthal stumbled upon this Irish farm, rearing fowl that the celebrity chef turned into "perfect" Peking Duck on one of his TV shows.

It's now the star at Singapore's own London Fat Duck - the cheekily-named Chinese restaurant that unabashedly riffs off Blumenthal's famous restaurant in Bray, UK - and several other local Chinese restaurants seeking out succulent specimens for their menus.

The story about how an Irish duck became an Asian sensation began some 50 years ago when Ronnie and Lyla Steele started a farm in Emyvale, County Monaghan, Ireland, with just six top-quality ducks. The couple were both from the poultry industry, and wanted to move to the countryside to start their own business. At the start, Lyla wanted to farm chicken while Ronnie had a soft spot for turkey. They eventually compromised with duck - a strange decision, as the Irish were not traditional duck eaters.