D'Artagnan Milk-Fed Porcelet

The Honeymoon that Changed Everything 

Decades ago, Canadian farmers Marc and Céline Aubin spent their honeymoon traveling through Spain and were inspired by what they saw at the markets. The local producers knew every chef in town by name and were proud to share the bounty of their farms with them.  

The Aubins had a vision: to recreate that kind of local tradition, with an exceptional product to feed a culinary scene hungry for exceptional ingredients. They came home to the Laurentians region of Québec with the dream of building that kind of farm. They didn’t want to compete with industrial farms but to make something those big farms couldn’t touch. Today, they have 40+ years of family farming and two generations working at Gaspor, their single farm that realizes that original vision with their milk-fed porcelet.  

THE PROPRIETARY MILK FORMULA 

The Aubin farm in Quebec established a very specialized operation, unique in North America, to raise milk-fed piglets. Based on European protocols for cochon de lait, the Yorkshire breed piglets are raised with the greatest care in spacious barns and nourished with a unique feeding program. 

First, they deconstructed raw milk and rebuilt it from scratch, in a carefully calibrated blend of milk powder, vitamins, and coconut fat. After being weaned, the piglets eat this proprietary milk formula warmed to the temperature of mother’s milk every two hours, 12 times a day. This matches the natural nursing rhythm and makes for a seamless and stress-free transition. The diet allows them to thrive and grow larger than conventional suckling pigs while maintaining the tenderness and flavor associated with much younger pigs.  

The result is something you can taste immediately: more moisture, more tenderness, and a fat profile closer to duck fat or olive oil than anything you’d expect from pork. The coconut fat creates whiter, creamier fat with a high melt or smoke point and a consistent texture every time it hits the pan.  

A NEW INGREDIENT 

This is not pork—not as we know it. Porcelet is a new ingredient, one that makes chefs rethink everything. 

The texture is dense and juicy; sometimes compared to a sea scallop. The fat is white and creamy, never yellow. And the skin, paper-thin and impossibly crispy when perfectly cooked, is what makes the milk-fed piglet truly exceptional. It braises, sears, roasts, and performs in delicate applications that conventional pork simply cannot handle. Gaspor piglet is closer to milk-fed veal or lamb than anything in the pork category. It has a higher moisture content than conventional pork, which is the juiciness and tenderness you taste on the plate. 

Handcrafted in Québec, Exported to the World 

Gaspor is a rare product from a rare place. The Laurentians region of Québec has produced something that now ships to the finest tables across North America, the Caribbean, and Japan. Think of it less as “local” and more like a great terroir wine; the land, the climate, the craft tradition, and the family obsession all converge in what arrives at your kitchen door. 

“I have enjoyed a long relationship with the Québécois farmers who raise our milk-fed piglets. Years ago, they would drive a refrigerated truck down to our HQ in New Jersey to hand-deliver their exquisite pork.  D’Artagnan was the first to offer porcelet in the U.S. with primal cuts for chefs; later, we expanded the program to include more home-cook-friendly cuts. There was only enough for a limited number of chefs to serve it, and porcelet was a sensation in that circle.” - Ariane Daguin, founder of D’Artagnan