Star Attraction

Why go out for a duck when this French-inspired menu will provide you with a sense of occasion?

The idea of eating local produce cooked locally is something I am passionate about, because the food has a sense of place and a sense of occasion surrounding it. One of the finest examples I have ever experienced was a meal in Gascony, in the southwest of France, an area renowned for its truffles, duck, foie gras and walnuts. I was aiming to eat at three three-Michelin-starred -restaurants in four days.

The Michelin restaurant guide, with its star-rating system, is considered a food bible by many gourmands. Much is made of those restaurants deemed worthy of the exalted three stars. Indeed, a three-star experience can lead to an epiphany, a meal so beautiful it can make you cry. The bill in some of these restaurants can also reduce you to tears.

Although each of my three-star restaurants was a revelation, the best meal in those four days was the simplest and cheapest. It was at a restaurant with no stars, an “auberge”, which is a farmhouse restaurant licensed by the French Government to serve food and wine. It is all done in the interests of preserving local cuisine, with the proviso that all the food served must be produced on the farm and the wine must be locally made. The farmer was the waiter, with his wife doing the cooking, and his daughter the dishes.

I started with a deep bowl of aromatic spring vegetable soup with crusty bread, followed by the best duck I have ever eaten. The skin was crisp and golden and the meat meltingly tender. It was served on the specialty of the area, sarladaise potatoes – bright yellow discs of crunchy potatoes fried in duck fat. A simple rocket salad dressed with fresh walnut oil was all the dish needed. This was followed by a rich, deep-brown walnut tart for dessert. As I ate, I realised that the occasion was the meal itself, and it all made perfect sense because of where I was eating it.

In the interests of coming up with the best recipe, I roasted five ducks in five different ways, including one that involved a bicycle pump and another that took six hours. Fortunately, I love duck, so an excess wasn’t a problem. The following recipe was the best, providing tender, juicy meat under a paper-thin golden skin.

Roast Duck with Grape Sauce

1 duck

½ cup of green grapes, halved and seeded

Preheat the oven to 220?C. (You need a really hot oven to melt the fat from under the skin, keeping the meat succulent.) Remove any loose fat, neck or giblets from inside the duck, then pat it dry inside and out. Remove the wings at the first joint. Rub the duck all over with olive oil, then season inside and out with salt and pepper. Place the orange and herbs inside the duck. Prick the skin all over with a fork or metal skewer. Place the duck on its side on a metal rack in a roasting dish with the sherry, giblets, neck and wing trimmings. Roast for 20 minutes. Use any fat to baste the bird, then turn it over and roast for 20 minutes. Baste again, then turn the duck breast-side up. Reduce the oven temperature to 200?C, then roast for 30 minutes, basting frequently. Remove the duck and rack from the oven, then transfer them to a tray and cover with tinfoil. Pour off any fat from the juices, then set aside.

Add the stock to the roasting pan and duck juices, then bring to the boil over a medium heat on top of the stove, scraping up any bits of cooked meat. Strain the sauce into a small saucepan, then add the jelly and grapes and bring to a simmer. Pour a little of the sauce over the duck, then return it to the oven for a few minutes to crisp the skin. To serve, first remove the legs, then carve the breasts off whole before carving them into thin slices. Serve with sauce on the side.

Serves 4.

NOT EVERYONE HAS duck fat in the pantry, so substitute butter if necessary. It won’t have the same taste or crispness, though, so first try asking for duck fat at specialist food shops. Once you have tried these potatoes, you’ll never want to cook them any other way.

Sarladaise Potatoes

4 potatoes, cooked and peeled

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a 4cm cookie cutter, make deep cutouts from the centre of each potato, then cut each cylinder into 3cm-thick discs. Mash the remaining potato and set aside for another day. Melt the duck fat in a heavy frying pan, then add the garlic. Sprinkle with the thyme, then season with salt and pepper. Slide the pan into the oven with the duck and cook for 20-30 minutes until golden.

Serves 4.

Rocket and Orange Salad

2 oranges, peeled and segmented

4 tbsp walnut or olive oil

In a bowl, toss the orange segments with some salt and pepper. Add the rocket leaves and toss again. Drizzle with oil, then toss again. Heap piles of salad on each of 4 serving plates.

Serves 4.

This tart is best served still warm from the oven.

Walnut Tart

160g unsalted butter, softened

to fit a 22cm tart tin

Heat the oven to 200?C. Using an electric beater, cream the butter until fluffy, then add the sugar. Beat until the mixture is fluffy again. Beat in the egg whites and essence until smooth. Mix in the walnuts, then pour the batter into the cooked shell. Spread the mixture evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling and golden brown. Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool. Serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8.