No. 1919

Duck a la Siebrecht

Canard a la Siebrecht

Have a duck prepared and cooked the same as for roasting (No. 1921), dress and serve at the same time a sauce prepared as follows: Peel and cook some sour apples, and when done strain off the liquid part collecting the pulp in a vessel; mix into this a quarter as much grated fresh horse-radish and as much unsweetened well drained whipped cream; pour this sauce into a sauce-boat and serve it to accompany the duck.

← No. 1918 Duck a la Matignon Duck & Goose No. 1920 Duck, American Style—Stuffed →

For the Modern Kitchen

A plain roast duck with a cold apple-horseradish cream alongside. The sauce is the whole point, and it is built on ratios rather than measures, so read the proportions carefully before you start.

The cross-referenceNo. 1921 is Ranhofer's roast duck, which this recipe simply defers to; he gives no weights or temperatures. In a modern oven a duckling of 4-5 lb, trussed, will take a hot start of about 20 minutes to set the skin and then moderate heat until the thigh reads 175F. Rest it 15 minutes before carving.
An ambiguous proportion"A quarter as much grated fresh horse-radish and as much unsweetened well drained whipped cream" can be read two ways: the cream matching the horseradish, or matching the apple. The horseradish reading is the sane one -- equal parts apple and cream would drown the dish. Start with 2 cups apple pulp, 1/2 cup grated horseradish, 1/2 cup whipped cream, and adjust.
Sour applesBramley, Granny Smith or any firm cooking apple. Cook them peeled and cored with a splash of water only, no sugar, until they collapse, then drain well -- a wet pulp will slacken the cream into soup.
Fresh horseradish, not the jarBottled prepared horseradish is packed in vinegar, which can slacken or split the cream and pushes the sharpness in the wrong direction. If it is all you have, drain it hard and use rather less. Grate fresh root close to serving; its heat is volatile and dulls fairly quickly.
Fold, do not stirWhip the cream to soft peaks, and fold it into cooled apple pulp. Warm pulp will melt it out. This is the hinge of the recipe -- the sauce should be pale, light and barely holding, not a puree.
Serve cold against hotThe contrast of a cold, sharp cream with hot roast duck is deliberate. Make the sauce no more than half an hour ahead; it begins to weep after that and cannot be rewhipped.
YieldOne duck of this size serves two generously, three at a stretch. The quantities above give roughly three cups of sauce, which is ample.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its several thousand numbered entries are riddled with dishes named for the restaurant's regulars, patrons and society figures -- Siebrecht is almost certainly one of these rather than a place or a technique, though Ranhofer, as usual, does not say. The sauce itself is not French at all: sweetened or unsweetened apple beaten with grated horseradish is a Central European standby, the Apfelkren served with boiled beef in Vienna and with roast goose across the German-speaking lands. Ranhofer's version folds in whipped cream, which lightens the whole thing into something closer to a chilled mousseline -- a peasant condiment given the texture of a restaurant sauce.