Name: Duck with the Curé’s Sauce (Pato con Salsa del Cura)
Yield: Makes 4–6 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: ¼ cup dry sherry (I use fino); 2 Pickled jalapeño chiles, seeded; 2 Long Island ducklings (about 5 pounds each); Salt and Freshly ground black pepper; 2 small white onions, unpeeled, plus 1 medium onion, peeled; 14 garlic cloves, 8 unpeeled; 12 bay leaves; 6 large ripe tomatoes, chopped (2½–3 pounds total); 6–8 large fresh thyme sprigs or 2 teaspoons crumbled dried thyme; 2–3 fresh marjoram sprigs or ¾ teaspoon crumbled dried marjoram; 10 black peppercorns, crushed in a mortar; 12 green (California-type) olives, pitted

Preparation info

Makes
4–6
servings

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Zarela's Veracruz

By Zarela Martínez

Published 2001

About

My inspiration for this recipe — one of the best duck dishes I know — was a recipe by Débora Íñiguez de Vives published in a wonderful book, La Cocina Veracruzana. She uses the true canate (a kind of migratory wild duck that winters in the Papaloapan River Basin), cuts it into serving pieces and braises it in a flavorful tomato sauce. (Doña Débora thinks the name salsa del cura goes back to a time when many dishes