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To Roast Wild-Fowl (Wild-duck widgeon and teal)
508. Wild-duck, widgeon, and teal are all roasted like common ducks, but without stuffing, and with rather a less allowance of time, though it is not now the fashion to send them to table almost raw, as was formerly the case. Before carving, the knife is drawn along the breast in the situation of the slices; and upon these a lemon is squeezed, and a little cayenne pepper sprinkled. They all require a made-gravy, with port-wine (which see).
A method note rather than a full recipe: three wild ducks of very different sizes treated the same way, with the seasoning done at the carving table. The useful detail is the shift the author records away from serving wildfowl essentially raw.
- The hinge: heat hard and brieflyWild duck has almost no fat to protect it, so a hot oven, 425-450F, and a short time are what keep it from drying to leather. Rest the birds breast-down for as long as they roasted.
- Rough timings by birdAt 425F a mallard runs about 18-25 minutes, widgeon 15-18, teal 10-12, all to a rosy breast. The original's "rather a less allowance of time" than common duck is the whole of its guidance, so a probe or a nick in the thickest part of the breast is worth more than the clock.
- No stuffing, and whyStuffing insulates the cavity and forces a longer roast, which is fatal to a lean bird. An onion quarter or a strip of orange peel put in loose for aroma, and removed before serving, keeps to the spirit of the instruction.
- BardingBecause these birds carry little fat of their own, period cookery sometimes covered lean game birds with a sheet of pork fat or bacon and basted them during roasting, though this recipe says nothing of it. Modern butter and a foil tent over the breast do the same work.
- Carving as seasoningScoring the breast along the lines of the slices before carving lets the lemon juice and cayenne run into the meat rather than sit on the skin. Do it at the table, over the bird, and carve immediately.
- "Made-gravy with port-wine"A made gravy is a proper cooked sauce built from stock and browned trimmings, not the pan juices alone. Reduce game or brown stock with a glass of port and the chopped necks and giblets, strain, and season sharply.
- YieldReckon one teal per person, one widgeon between two, and one mallard for two moderate appetites.
- Shot birdsWildfowl taken with lead shot may carry fragments well away from the visible pellet track. If the source is unknown, feel through the breast before carving and warn anyone eating it.