No. 1929

Mongrel Duck—Roasted and Stuffed

Carnard Metis Farci et Roti

A mongrel duck is the mixed breed of the wild and the domestic duck; it is generally larger than the domestic, and is usually served stuffed with a dressing made of soaked and pressed bread-crumbs, into which mingle chopped and blanched onions, chopped parsley, butter or chopped up marrow, salt pepper and nutmeg. Put the duck in a baking pan, cover with fat and roast in the oven, basting over at frequent intervals while cooking. A mongrel duck will take from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, and a goose from two and a half to three hours. Dress on a long dish; pour some clear gravy (No. 404) into the roasting pan, strain off the fat and reduce, pour a little of this over the bird and serve the remainder apart.

← No. 1928 Ducks' Paupiettes with Risot Duck & Goose No. 1930 Duckling a l'Andalouse →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer gives proportions for nothing, assumes a professional kitchen, and cross-references a stock recipe you do not have. The following fills in what a modern cook needs.

What a mongrel duck wasA cross between wild and domestic stock, and generally larger than a farmyard duck. The closest thing on sale now is a moulard (Muscovy x Pekin), around 6-8 lb, or a large Pekin at 5-6 lb. A true wild duck is much smaller and will not take the times given here.
Oven temperatureRanhofer gives no temperature, only "the oven". For the stated hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, roughly 400-425F suits a modern oven; for a fattier modern duck, 425F for the first 20 minutes then 350F for the remainder gives better skin without drying the legs.
The stuffing, in workable amountsFor a 6 lb bird: about 4 cups stale bread soaked in milk or water and squeezed nearly dry, 1 medium onion chopped and blanched, a handful of chopped parsley, 3 tablespoons butter or 2 oz chopped beef marrow, salt, pepper and a scant grating of nutmeg. Pack it loosely; wet bread stuffing swells.
MarrowChopped beef marrow appears often in period cookery, and Ranhofer offers it here as an alternative to butter; it is worth using if a butcher will saw you a few marrow bones. Soak the bones in cold water, push out the marrow, dice it cold, and mix it in raw so it melts into the crumbs during roasting.
Stuffing and donenessA stuffed bird must reach 165F at the centre of the dressing, and that usually happens after the breast is past its best. If you want the breast pink, bake the dressing separately in a buttered dish for the last 40 minutes and roast the bird empty.
"Cover with fat"Most likely a sheet of pork fat or bacon laid over the breast rather than a coating of grease. Duck renders plenty of its own fat, so bard only the breast and remove the covering for the last 20 minutes to colour the skin.
The gravyNo. 404 is Ranhofer's clear gravy, a lightly seasoned brown stock. A good unsalted chicken or veal stock stands in. Pour it into the emptied roasting pan, scrape up the glaze, strain off the duck fat, and reduce until it just coats a spoon; do not thicken it.
YieldA 6 lb duck with dressing serves four generously, three if the eaters are serious about duck. Save the strained fat for potatoes.

A Little History

"Mongrel duck" was a market term in nineteenth-century America for birds of mixed wild and domestic parentage, either deliberately crossed or the result of a mallard drake finding its way into a farmyard flock. Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's, would have had such birds from game and poultry dealers. The modern descendant of the idea is the moulard, a sterile Muscovy-Pekin hybrid raised chiefly for foie gras and confit. The stuffing here, soaked bread with onion, parsley and marrow, is plain French bourgeois practice rather than anything grand. The Epicurean appeared in 1894.