Name: Anatra in dolce e forte (Duck in a Sweet and Strong Sauce)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 1 duck, about 5 pounds, neck, wing tips, and excess fat removed, then quartered; 2 tablespoons grated bitter chocolate; ½ cup red wine vinegar; About ¼ cup balsamic vinegar; About 1 tablespoon sugar; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 yellow onion, chopped; ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted; ¾ cup poultry or meat stock; ¼ cup raisins, plumped in hot water and drained; 1 carrot, peeled and chopped; 1 celery stalk, chopped; ½ cup dry white wine

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Italian Slow and Savory

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2004

About

Dolce e forte literally translates as “sweet and strong.” Here, strong means intense and spiced, but full flavored rather than spicy hot. The pine nuts and raisins are echoes of Arabic-inspired cookery, brought to Spain by the Moors. The chocolate came from the New World to Spain, then eventually from Spain to Sicily during the Spanish reign of the island. But, as with the tomato, it took a few centuries for chocolate to be used in cooking. The history of this dish is as complex as i