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Roast Ruddy Duck
Have a fat duck dressed, signed, and wiped carefully; sprinkle a little salt inside, and draw the head through the opening at the base of the neck; sprinkle the outside with salt, and lay in a roasting-pan; bake in a moderately quick oven for fifteen minutes, and longer if desired well done. Take it up and untruss, place it on a hot dish and pour inside a little hot white broth. Cut quickly in slices, and serve with a garnish of fried hominy and currant jelly.
A market-game recipe from the era when wild ducks were sold by the brace. The whole method rests on high heat and a very short time, so the bird has to be small and the oven fully hot before it goes in.
- Sourcing the birdRuddy duck is a migratory wild fowl and cannot be bought; it can only be legally taken under a current hunting licence within the season and bag limits where you live. A small wild duck such as teal behaves similarly in this method.
- "Signed"Read this as singed: the plucked bird is passed briefly over a flame to burn off the fine hairs and remaining down, then wiped. A gas burner or a kitchen torch does it in under a minute.
- Moderately quick ovenRoughly 400F; period equivalences for "moderately quick" range from about 375F to 425F. The pan and oven must be thoroughly preheated, since fifteen minutes gives no time to recover lost heat.
- Fifteen minutes means rareA ruddy duck weighs little over a pound, and a quarter of an hour at this heat leaves the breast frankly red. That was the intent. Wild waterfowl carries some risk of salmonella and campylobacter, so anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised should have it cooked through to 165F instead, at the cost of the texture.
- Drawing the headThe head is tucked back through the opening at the base of the neck, a 19th-century presentation for wildfowl. Skip it and simply truss the bird if the head is already off.
- White brothA light, unbrowned stock, veal or chicken, unthickened and unseasoned beyond salt. A few tablespoons poured into the cavity keeps the interior moist while carving.
- Fried hominyCooked hominy or coarse grits, spread in a pan to set firm, cut into squares or rounds and fried in butter or fat until crisp. Make it ahead; the duck will not wait.
- YieldOne ruddy duck serves one person, or two as a small course. Scale the birds, not the timing.