roast
duck
for
gumbo

This recipe is different to our other roast ducks. It starts with a good freshly killed duck 1.9-2.1 kg..PLEASE resist the urge to salvage the neck skin for a duck neck sausage. 

THE DAY BEFORE
Wash the duck under cold running water and pat it dry.Peel a large onion, cut it in half and put it in the cavity. Either stitch up the cavity or use a couple of skewers. Tie of the neck with kitchen string.

Put a rack in your sink and put a large pot of water on to boil. When the water is boiling ladle the boiling water over the duck, turn it over and repeat the process. Dry everything with paper towel. Standing the duck breast side up on the rack and refrigerate, uncovered for twenty four hours.

DAY TWO

pre heat oven to 180°C
Line an oven dish with a double layer of aluminum foil and sit a rack in the roasting dish. Put a small splash of vegetable oil on the duck and rub it all over. Put about 20g fine sea salt on the duck and rub it in all over.

Put the duck in the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes….when the timer goes brush the skin with the fat that has rendered. Cook the duck for a total of 2 hours, repeating the brushing with the fat every 30 minutes.

Allow the duck to cool for at least an hour and then pull all of the meat from the bones. If you have a cholesterol problem resist eating the skin and chop it up to go into the gumbo. Rendered duck fat can be used instead of butter in the gumbo or reserved for another purpose, and the bones of course go into a stock!

Pack the shredded duck tightly, or vac, so it doesn’t get dry bits and refrigerate until you make the gumbo.

AO 2 FEBRUARY 2023