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DUCK (a la Francaise)
Lard the breast of a duck with bacon, and put it on the spit before a clear fire for twenty minutes, and then into a stewpan of gravy previously prepared in the following manner. To one pint of beef gravy add two dozen chestnuts, roasted and peeled, two onions, sliced and fried in butter, two sage-leaves, and a sprig of thyme; pepper and salt. When the duck has stewed twenty minutes put it on a dish, add a quarter of a pint of port wine to the gravy, a little butter and flour to thicken, pour it hot over the duck, and serve. Probable cost, 3s. to 4s. Sufficient for four or five persons.
A two-stage duck: browned at the fire, then finished in a chestnut and port gravy. Everything here translates, but the timings assume a small, lean, spit-turned bird rather than a modern 5 lb duck.
- The spit becomes a hot ovenTwenty minutes "before a clear fire" is a hard sear on all sides, not roasting through. Start the duck at 450F for 20-25 minutes, or brown it thoroughly in a heavy pan, to render the skin fat before it goes into liquid.
- Total cooking time is too shortForty minutes will not cook a modern duck of 4-5 lb through at the leg. Give it 60-90 minutes in the covered gravy until the thigh reaches 175F and the joint moves freely; the breast, already larded, will stay moist.
- LardingThreading strips of bacon fat through the breast with a larding needle is unnecessary with today's fattier ducks. Lay two or three rashers over the breast instead, or omit them and rely on the bird's own fat.
- "Beef gravy" means stockIn Victorian usage this is a strong brown beef broth, not thickened pan gravy. A pint (2 cups) of good beef or veal stock, reduced a little, is the intent.
- ChestnutsTwo dozen fresh chestnuts, roasted and peeled, is about 12 oz in the shell. Vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts work directly; add them in the last 20 minutes so they hold their shape rather than dissolving into the sauce.
- Port and thickeningAdd the port to the strained gravy and let it boil two or three minutes to burn off the raw spirit before thickening. "A little butter and flour" means a beurre manieé — equal parts, about 1 tbsp each, whisked in off the boil.
- Skim the fatThe recipe ignores it, but a duck stewed in a pint of stock will throw a great deal of fat. Lift the bird out, let the gravy settle, and spoon the fat off before adding the port, or the sauce will be greasy.
- Cost and yield3s. to 4s. places this among the dearer dishes in the book. The stated four or five servings is optimistic by modern portions; a single duck realistically serves three.
Cassell's appears to use "a la francaise" loosely here, as Victorian English cookery books often did, to mean a dish finished with a wine-enriched brown sauce rather than plain roasted and sent to table with apple sauce. The pairing of duck with chestnuts and sage is older than the label: chestnuts were a cheap autumn bulk food across France and Italy long before they became a luxury garnish, and the combination of a fat bird with a starchy, sweet nut and a fortified wine belongs to the same family as the French canard aux marrons. The two-stage method -- spit first, stewpan after -- reflects open-hearth practice, where a clear fire was valued for the colour and flavour it gave, and the stewpan then did the slow work on the hob.