No. 1935

Ducklings' Fillets a la Macedoine or Green Peas

Filets de Canetons a la Macedoine ou aux petits pois

Singe, drain, and clean two young ducklings trussed for entree (No. 178); lay them in a saucepan lined with bardes of fat pork, moisten to half their height with good mirepoix wine stock (No. 419), let boil, then skim or simmer over a slow fire or in the oven until done, basting over at frequent intervals, and glazing to a fine color; it will take from three-quarters of an hour to one hour to cook them. When the ducks are thoroughly done, remove the fillets, strain, skim, and reduce the stock with espagnole sauce (No. 414), and when it becomes succulent and properly reduced, add it to the fillets with a piece of fine butter, rolling all the while to mix well. Dress the fillets in a circle, filling the inside with a macedoine of vegetables (No. 680), or small fresh peas with bacon prepared as follows: Have half a pound of bacon cut in half inch dice, unsalt by parboiling, drain and fry in butter with some small onions; moisten with brown sauce (No. 414), and some of the duck stock, let simmer until the onions and bacon are cooked, then throw in three pints of peas cooked French style (No. 2743). Mix all together and pour it into the center of the fillets, or else serve with a garnishing of cucumbers and Villeroi (No. 2732).

← No. 1934 Duckling a la Lyonnaise Duck & Goose No. 1936 Ducklings' Fillets a la Perigueux →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with a stockpot always going; the cross-references do the heavy lifting. Stripped down, this is two braised ducklings whose breasts are served in a ring around buttered peas with bacon and onions, sauced with the reduced braising liquid.

What the cross-references meanNo. 419 mirepoix wine stock and No. 414 espagnole are Ranhofer's standard brown-stock preparations: a mirepoix stock built on aromatic vegetables and pork or ham trimmings with wine, and a roux-thickened brown sauce; consult the numbered recipes for his exact formulas. A good reduced brown chicken or duck stock, thickened lightly, stands in for both. No. 2743 peas "French style" is the familiar preparation of peas stewed with lettuce, small onions and butter rather than boiled in water.
Bardes of fat porkThin sheets of cured back fat or fresh fatback, used here to line the pan so the ducks do not scorch and to add fat to the braise. Sliced pancetta or unsmoked streaky bacon does the same work.
SingeingPassing the plucked bird over a flame to burn off pin feathers and down. Supermarket duck needs this only rarely; tweeze any remaining quills instead.
Oven and liquid levelRanhofer gives no temperature; "slow fire or in the oven" points to a low-moderate oven, around 300-325F, for the gentle braise described. Moisten only to half the height of the birds, as written, so the exposed breast browns and glazes while the legs stew.
Timing and the breastThree-quarters of an hour to an hour at that temperature brings a duckling's legs to tenderness but leaves the breast well past pink. If you want the fillets rosy, take them off at 130-135F internal and return the carcasses to the pan to finish the legs and enrich the stock.
The baconNineteenth-century bacon was far saltier than most sold today, hence the parboil to "unsalt" it. With modern cured bacon, a brief blanch is enough to keep the sauce from turning salty once reduced; taste before you reduce.
Finishing the sauceThe hinge is the butter at the end: keep the pan off direct heat and the sauce moving so the butter emulsifies rather than splitting into a greasy film. "Rolling" here most likely means swirling the pan rather than whisking.
Quantities and yieldThree pints of shelled peas is roughly 3 lb, or about 2 1/2 lb frozen petits pois, and half a pound of bacon dice is a great deal of garnish for four breasts. Two ducklings yield four fillets, so scale the peas to about a pint unless you are also serving the legs.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and its numbered cross-referencing shows something of how a large French-trained American brigade actually worked. Macédoine is the standard French culinary term for a mixture of vegetables cut in even small dice, generally explained as a reference to the many peoples of Macedonia under Alexander; the alternative garnish, aux petits pois, points to the spring and early summer duckling that is customarily paired with new peas in French cooking. The dish belongs to a long chapter of duckling entrées in the book, each distinguished only by its garnish and sauce, which is how a restaurant of the period generated a menu of apparent variety from one braise.