Types of Duck for Confit

In Southwest France, the popular duck for confit is the Moulard, which has a unique flavor and is more than twice as heavy as the average American Long Island duck, known as the white Pekin. The Moulard is a hybrid cross of a Pekin and a Muscovy duck. Moulards are sterile (i.e., they cannot reproduce), and this makes them fairly expensive.

In preparing this revised edition, all the duck leg confit recipes were retested with the three duck breeds available: Moulard, Muscovy, and Pekin. After years of experimenting with confit in American kitchens, I’ve codified adjustments in the basic techniques to handle the various ducks available, and also made reasonable compromises to better suit our less leisurely household rhythms.