With its complex flavour and rich taste, duck is steadily becoming the meat of choice for chefs looking for an imaginative alternative to chicken and turkey.
High in protein, vitamins and minerals, farmed duck is now available all-year round and popular UK varieties include Goosenargh, Aylesbury and Gressingham, as well as flavourful French breeds Barbary and Nantais.
Snack ingredient
The Folly, in the City of London, picks up on duck’s association with Oriental cuisine by offering two sharing dishes – an aromatic shredded crispy duck with pancakes and hoisin sauce, and a Peking duck flatbread. The Drake & Morgan outlet also has a crispy duck and noodle salad with crispy vegetables, sesame seeds and hoisin dressing.
With its comparatively high fat content, duck provides a succulent roasting option. On the menu at the four Nottingham sites owned by Moleface Pub Company is a pot roast barberry duck leg, with mash, kale, and sweet and sour cherries.
Tom Kerridge, owner of the two-Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers, and Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropubs Awards winner, is an advocate of duck meat. Kerridge’s slow-cooked duck breast with Savoy cabbage, duck fat chips and gravy was the winning main dish on the BBC’s Great British Menu in 2010 and is still among the pub's best-selling dishes. He also offers parfait of duck with foie gras, orange chutney and toasted brioche as a starter.
Pizza action
Some outlets are exploiting the versatility of duck by using it as a pizza topping. On the menu at Orchid Pubs concept Pizza, Kitchen and Bar is a crispy duck and hoisin pizza with spring onion, cucumber and coriander. Also available are pizza strippers – strips of dough topped with crispy duck.