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Anthony Demetre’s Goosnargh duck lacquered with honey and sweet spice, roasted root vegetables, quince and chestnuts
Serves 4-6 (Start 5 days before serving) Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 Goosnargh duck
- selection of root and autumnal vegetables such as sand carrots, onion squash, red onions, parsnips, salsify, Brussels sprouts, garlic (peeled and crushed) rosemary, thyme or winter savoury, chopped or picked
- 8-10 raw fresh chestnuts, roasted until crisp, cooled, peeled and thinly sliced
For the lacquer
- 25g Sichuan pepper, lightly crushed
- 1tsp five spice
- ½tsp ground nutmeg
- 100ml teriyaki marinade
- 300g clear honey
- 20ml sesame oil
- 50ml good sherry vinegar
For the quince
- 1 or 2 large quince, peeled, cored and cut into segments
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- peel and juice 1 lemon
- 2tbsp orange flower or rose water
- 200g castor sugar
Method
Five days before, prepare the duck. Gently score the skin, being careful not to penetrate the flesh. Put it in a non-stick pan, cover and render over a low heat for a few minutes until the fat is coloured. Drain the pan, reserving the fat in the fridge to cook the roast vegetables. Season the duck well with salt and pepper before hanging in a cool place for 3 days.
To make the lacquer, gently warm the spices in a pan,add all the wet ingredients and reduce by a third. Store in the fridge.
When the duck has been hanging for 3 days, remove the lacquer from the fridge, stir well and bring to room temperature, and push through a sieve set over a bowl. Brush it all over the duck, making sure that you paint every inch with the lacquer, discarding the solids.
Return the duck to its hanging place and leave for a further 48 hours. This will allow the lacquer to penetrate the duck skin, ensuring the flavours are retained for cooking. When ready to roast, bring the duck to room temperature – this is really important as it ensures the duck will cook evenly. Preheat the oven to 180-190C/160-170C F/Gas 4-5. Roast the duck for around 40 minutes, or according to its weight, until the skin is crispy and the duck is medium cooked. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash and peel the root vegetables (no need to peel onion squash – the skin is delicious), cut into even-sized pieces and cut the onions into wedges. Rub the vegetables liberally with the reserved duck fat, season with salt and pepper and combine with the garlic and herbs. Arrange evenly on a baking sheet and roast for around 35-45 minutes.
At the same time, cook the quince. Combine all the ingredients in a pan with 2 litres water, or enough to cover the segmented quince, to make a poaching stock. Bring to a simmer. Poach the quince in the simmering liquid until soft (a knife should run through easily without resistance), then leave to cool in the poaching stock until needed. The quince will take on a lovely dark pink hue. During the last 10 minutes of cooking the vegetables, add the segments of cooked quince to heat through.
Cook the sprouts in plenty of boiling salted water until cooked through, then refresh in cold water and set aside. Quickly sauté them in some duck fat just before serving.
Gently mix all the vegetables and quince together, correct the seasoning and scatter over the sliced chestnuts before serving with the duck.
This recipe was taken from the Christmas 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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