The Festive Duck

The duck is a festive bird. It is ideal for a special occasion. I am always disappointed when I hear cooks in this country recommending that it should be served ‘plain roast with green peas and sauce’. I far prefer the Continental methods - French, Italian and Greek - of dealing with this delicious bird, half-way in flavour between poultry and game. It is rich, meltingly tender when young, and fairly cries out to be simmered with wine, herbs and brandy in the Provençal manner. It can be filleted raw, marinated in Madeira and herbs, and encased with the remainder of the meat, pounded and mixed with truffles and fat salt pork, in a terrine or pâté en croute, or stuffed with rice or wheat and pine nuts and herbs à la grecque, before being roasted in the oven.