How long should the wild duck roast?

The duck is browned in butter and roasted in a hot oven for about ½ hour. Allow around 75 minutes total including preparation and sauce. Baste the duck often with butter during roasting.

Why is the duck tied with slices of pork fat?

Wild duck is lean meat, and slices of pork fat (fatback) around the bird keep it juicy during roasting. The duck is also sprinkled with salt and basted often with butter for the same reason.

What is the sauce made of?

A brown sauce is brought to a boil and red wine, lemon and orange juice, salt and pepper are added. It simmers for 15 minutes, is strained and skimmed. The recipe also uses bouillon and bitter-orange sauce. The sauce is served separately.

How is the dish plated?

The duck is carved and placed on a warm platter, surrounded by small bouquets of cress and lemon cut in four. The recipe is from Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914), p. 330, and serves 3.

Roast Wild Duck

Erken's recipe for roast wild duck from 1914: the duck is tied with slices of pork fat, browned in butter and roasted about ½ hour in a hot oven under constant basting, dusted with flour before serving. A sauce of brown sauce, bitter-orange sauce, red wine, lemon and orange juice is strained and served separately. Garnished with cress and lemon wedges.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 330 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

From the chapter "Poultry and game" in Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914). The page is set in two columns, so the ingredient lists for several duck recipes are mixed together in the OCR text; the list here is reconstructed from the method. Wild duck was considered festive fare, and bitter-orange and orange sauce (bigarade sauce) was its classic companion.

How to make it

1
Prepare the duck
Clean the duck and truss it (bind the legs and wings against the body). Tie thin slices of pork fat around the breast and sprinkle with salt.
2
Brown and roast
Brown the duck in the butter in a pan or pot. Continue roasting it in a hot oven (about 220 °C (430 °F)) for roughly half an hour, and baste often with butter and bouillon.
3
Dust with flour
Just before serving, dust a little wheat flour over the bird so the skin becomes crisp.
4
Make the sauce
Bring the brown sauce to a boil together with the bitter-orange sauce, add red wine, lemon juice, orange juice, salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes, strain it and skim off.
5
Plating
Carve the duck and place it on a warm platter. Garnish with small bouquets of cress and lemons cut in four. Serve the sauce separately in a sauceboat.

Changes from the original

The ingredient list is reconstructed and modernized (dl/l/g), "pork fat" is specified as slices of fresh or lightly salted pork belly/bacon, bitter-orange sauce is given with a modern alternative (orange/bigarade sauce). Roasting time and oven temperature are specified for a modern oven. The language of the steps is modernized.

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Frequently asked questions

How long should the wild duck roast?: The duck is browned in butter and roasted in a hot oven for about ½ hour. Allow around 75 minutes total including preparation and sauce. Baste the duck often with butter during roasting.
Why is the duck tied with slices of pork fat?: Wild duck is lean meat, and slices of pork fat (fatback) around the bird keep it juicy during roasting. The duck is also sprinkled with salt and basted often with butter for the same reason.
What is the sauce made of?: A brown sauce is brought to a boil and red wine, lemon and orange juice, salt and pepper are added. It simmers for 15 minutes, is strained and skimmed. The recipe also uses bouillon and bitter-orange sauce. The sauce is served separately.
How is the dish plated?: The duck is carved and placed on a warm platter, surrounded by small bouquets of cress and lemon cut in four. The recipe is from Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914), p. 330, and serves 3.

Equipment for this dish

Frying pan →A heavy pan gives the fish a crisp crust without sticking.Foodstuff.no

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