There are as many ways to roast a duck as there are to stuff a mushroom, even if life is too short to do the latter. Raymond Blanc, in his fussy, mannered French way, insists that if you roast a whole duck for much more than an hour the breast meat will be completely overcooked. This insistence is predicated on the blind belief that duck breast meat must be rare and pink, not fully cooked and brown. Other methods will not even be considered by those steeped in this school of thought. It is as if it is thus written in The Great Bible of Duck.

This thinking is inculcated into the minds of millions of students at thousands of chefs’ schools. It is nigh impossible to penetrate this Groupthink with any suggestion that this opinion might be countered. It is as unthinkable as suggesting that rosbifs might know how to cook pâté de foie gras. Of course they don’t. (rosbif [roastbeef]: derogatory French term for the English across the channel, in context of their obviously laughable cuisine).

But ducks have been roasted whole, and cooked all the way to the bone, in many cuisines for centuries. Czechs cook Bohemian Duck with caraway seeds, roasting it at 180℃ for two hours, turning it over half way through. Italians roast whole ducks at 200℃ but for 20 minutes per 500g plus an extra 20 minutes. Andrew Zimmern roasts a duck for 100 minutes at 205℃, after salting it and letting it rest uncovered in the fridge for a day first. One American recipe calls for roasting the bird for a full three hours at 150℃, turning and pricking the fatty parts every hour. Jamie Oliver roasts a duck at 180℃ for one hour and 20 minutes, plus a final 40 minutes to get the skin crisp.

I seldom roast a whole duck, and I do like to cook a duck breast until it is perfectly pink and medium rare, with the scored skin beautifully crispy. So, I do understand and respect the thinking behind pink breast meat as an ideal. But it is possible to roast a whole duck thoroughly well and have the breast meat come out succulent and tender. I did it only this week, and followed the same recipe I have been using for years.

Very simply, this requires three things: pricking the fatty parts of the skin; cooking it on a rack over a deep pan to catch the fat as it drips down, and turning it over half way through the cooking.

At this half way mark, you can prick the fatty parts of the duck again, to ensure that as much fat falls into the pan as possible. This corralled fat can be cooled, strained and refrigerated or frozen for future use to roast potatoes in. Or you can put potatoes into the pan when you put the duck in the oven.

Because I had not roasted a duck for some years, I was doubtful of the recipe as I remembered it, but decided to go with what I recalled and the result was delicious duck meat, succulent all the way, including the breast meat, and golden, crispy skin. 

Don’t let anybody tell you a duck will feed four. It won’t, unless your guests eat like birds. You need a half bird per portion if you’re not to be thought as miserly as Ebenezer Scrooge.

It is fashionable to flavour duck with Chinese five spice, but I don’t think this is ideal for this old-fashioned method. I went with only salt, to get the unadulterated flavour of the duck meat. The blueberry sauce brings in other flavours.

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

1 whole duck, wings removed (don’t discard them)

Salt to taste

8 to 10 new potatoes (baby potatoes)

A few sprigs of thyme

250 ml red wine

250 ml chicken stock

250 ml berry juice

1 cup blueberries

Salt and pepper to season the sauce

Method

Preheat the oven to 180℃.

Cut off the wing tips and put them into a heavy pot on a low heat and leave them to cook slowly while you work on the duck. The idea is for the wings to render their own fat, in which you will later cook red onion and then build up a sauce to serve with the canard.

Use a skewer, or toothpick, or fork to prick the fatty parts of the duck repeatedly. Don’t be shy about this, you need to render as much fat as possible.

Pour a cup of water into a deep roasting pan, add the baby potatoes, and place a rack on top sturdy enough for the bird to sit on while in the oven. Salt the bird all over and place it breast side down on the rack.

Roast for a full hour, then remove from the oven and turn the duck over. Return to the oven for a second hour.

Meanwhile, prepare any other vegetables you’ve chosen to do. I did mangetout, blanched, refreshed in cold water and dried, then tossed in a hot pan for a few minutes with butter with salt and pepper; and baby beetroot which I steamed, then finished in a pan on the hob with butter and a couple of pieces of cassia bark, a dash of vino cotto (or use honey) and salt and pepper.

Once the duck wings have rendered the fat, remove the wings (a treat for the dogs or the cook?) and add chopped red onion. Simmer till softened, then add red wine and reduce on a high heat by two thirds, add chicken stock and repeat, then add berry juice and blueberries and reduce gently until it is a satisfying sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Carve the duck into four portions (two thigh portions, two breasts) and serve with the sauce and accompanying vegetables. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Champion 2021. His book, foodSTUFF, is available in the DM Shop or, if sold out, directly from him. Buy it here. 

Mervyn Gers Ceramics supplies dinnerware for the styling of some TGIFood shoots. 

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks. Share your versions of his recipes with him on Instagram and he’ll see them and respond.

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