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Roasted Wild Duck
Prepare a wild duck, cut off the head and neck, scald the feet, and truss them with the duck in the same way as a fowl. Put the duck close to a sharp fire for a few minutes to brown, then move it a little way back, and baste continually with butter till done; just before it is taken up dredge with flour. In the meantime soak the necks and gizzards in a pint of water over the fire till the water is reduced to one-half pint, or in place of water use one-half pint of veal gravy; put into this a slice of lemon or orange, one onion, three or four leaves of basil, a blade of mace, a little pepper and salt, and boil together for a few minutes, then strain; add a wineglassful of port wine, and the juice of a lemon or orange. Dish the ducks when done, pour the gravy over them, and serve.
This is spit-and-hearth cookery translated onto the page: a sharp fire, constant basting, and a giblet gravy sharpened with port and citrus. The method transfers to an oven without much trouble, but wild duck is very lean and the window between rare and ruined is narrow.
- The hinge: do not overcook itWild duck has almost none of the fat that protects a supermarket Pekin, and it turns dry and livery when taken much past medium-rare. Roast at high heat and pull the bird when the thickest part of the breast reads 130-135F, then rest 10 minutes.
- "Close to a sharp fire", then backOn a spit this meant browning in the fiercest radiant heat, then finishing further out. In an oven, start at 475F for 8-10 minutes to colour the skin, then drop to 375F. A mallard takes roughly 18-25 minutes total; teal and other small ducks 10-15.
- Basting is not optional hereWith no fat cap to render, the butter is doing the work the bird cannot do for itself. Baste every few minutes, or lay a sheet of fat back or bacon over the breast and remove it for the last five minutes.
- Scalding and trussing the feetPeriod practice left the feet on, scalded so the outer skin and nails could be rubbed away, and folded them against the body. Modern birds come footless; truss the legs close to the breast and ignore the instruction.
- Dredging with flourA light dusting of flour onto hot buttered skin just before serving crisps and lightly glazes it. Use very little and give it two or three minutes of heat, or it tastes raw and pasty.
- Giblets, not liversNecks and gizzards make a clean stock; a duck liver simmered in it will turn the gravy muddy and bitter. Save the liver for a separate use.
- A blade of maceOne whole piece of the lacy husk that surrounds nutmeg, still sold in Indian and spice shops. About 1/4 teaspoon ground mace is the nearest substitute, added at the end of the boil since ground spice loses aroma quickly.
- Old measuresA wineglassful of port is about 2 fluid ounces (1/4 cup). The pint reducing to a half pint is a straight 50 percent reduction, so start with 2 cups and finish with 1.
- YieldOne mallard serves two at most; a widgeon or teal is a single portion. Scale the gravy up rather than the reduction time if you are cooking several birds.
- If you have no wild duckA farmed duck can be used but behaves quite differently: it carries a thick fat layer that needs scoring and a longer, gentler roast to render, and the basting in this recipe becomes unnecessary.
Oscar Tschirky's book appeared in 1896, when wild duck was still a standard luxury item on American hotel menus rather than a hunter's private treat: canvasback, redhead and mallard were shipped to city markets in quantity, and canvasback in particular commanded prices that put it alongside terrapin as a Delmonico's and Waldorf signature. The gravy here follows the older English manner -- giblet stock cut with port and citrus, seasoned with mace and basil -- a sweet-sour foil to strong, dark wildfowl. Market hunting on this scale was among the pressures behind the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, after which the commercial sale of wild waterfowl in the United States ended; a dish that was once ordered from a waiter now depends on someone in the family shooting it.