Mallard with beetroot, spruce & juniper sauce

Name: Mallard with beetroot, spruce & juniper sauce
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 300 g rapeseed oil; 200 g white wine; vegetable oil, for frying; 1 shallot, peeled and diced; 150 g spinach; 150 g spruce needles; mallard belly bones and leg bones; 5 g juniper berries, toasted and crushed; 200 g crushed buckwheat; 4 g salt; 2 g all spice; 100 g plain flour; 1 egg, whisked; 2 mallards; 5 g salt; 1 leek, white only, diced; 5 g coriander seeds, toasted and crushed; 1 carrot, 1 shallot, 1 celery, all peeled and diced; 1 litre dark chicken stock; 2 sprigs thyme; 1 sprig rosemary; 2 mallard legs; 100 g ground pork belly; 150 g white balsamic vinegar; 300 g trompette mushrooms; 2 g garlic, peeled and sliced; soy sauce, to taste; 100 g chicken stock; 200 g sherry vinegar; 50 g butter

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Glorious Game

By Ben Tish

Published 2019

About

This a wonderful autumnal dish with classic flavours working well together. Mallard is one of my favourite game birds to cook: its flavour is far superior to farmed duck and it’s a good size to cook with. The deep flavour of the meat allows for robust flavours to be paired with it, hence the barbecue and mushroom used in the dish, both heavy on umami. The beetroots add a balance of sweetness that really allows the meat to shine.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.