Duck Fat

The fat that was rendered from one duckling

Cooking is all about flavor. The craft of cheffing is to build a broad but harmonious flavor profile into all of his dishes. This means that as well as a sound technical knowledge of the plastic qualities of food, a chef must also have a comprehensive palate that understands how to compose several flavors into a single profile that is appropriate to the dish being cooked. We are all familiar with various basic flavor combinations such as cinnamon and apples, bacon and onions and so on, and perhaps the greatest difference between a chef and an amateur cook is the familiarity that the professional gastronome has with a wide range of base flavors. One such ingredient that forms an excellent foundation upon which to build delicious profiles and which is out of the usual realm of the home cook is duck fat.

Duck fat gives dishes a moreish savory flavor into which a broad range of herbs and spices can be easily assimilated whilst adding a fine richness to bland staple ingredients like potatoes or chicken breast-meat. My favorite thing to cook in duck fat is bacon and eggs with crispy fried bread. Duck fat is readily available in butchers and delicatessens but my preference is to render my own fat from a plump duckling that is about six months old.

So, today I went to a duck farm and selected a lovely fat Muscovy drake which, after I had slaughtered and dressed, was slow roasted at about 160°C for a couple of hours. I placed the bird on a rack over a deep tray to catch the rendered fat which I poured off at intervals to keep it clean, using just enough of the rendered fat to baste the duck throughout the cooking process. Of course the roast duckling was delicious, served with roasted potato and carrots, steamed sweet corn on the cob and broccoli, and napped with rich gravy, but it is the duck fat that I collected that will continue to add spectacular flavor to everything that I cook with it that is the real culinary treasure.