Duck

Many kinds of wild duck have wonderful flavor, but mallards, pintails, blacks, scoups, canvasbacks, and teals are easiest to find. Although these ducks are all different in the great outdoors, in the kitchen it doesn’t much matter. The flavor of duck depends on the diet, the conditions it has endured, the size, and age. The older a duck is, the tougher it is. The smaller and early season ducks make the best eating to our minds. To check the age of a duck, press on the breastbone; if it’s pliable, the duck is young. But even the youngest, plumpest wild duck can’t be cooked like domestic duck. The meat is very lean and easily overdone. Cooked with care, wild ducks will charm the taste buds like few other birds with their dark, juicy, rich meat.