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Journalism of Courage
BACK when shikar was legit, a duck shoot was one of the favourites, edged out from the prime slot only by a pig shoot. Most ducks are migratory, so the season usually began with the onset of winter. Marksmen wait by the water8217;s edge, the birds would be sighted duck shoots very often take place at dusk when the birds come to roost, shouts would rent the air, and if one was lucky, a fowl tumbled out of the sky.
Mercifully, one no longer needs to go to such bloodthirsty or adventurous lengths for a duck on the platter. Most speciality restaurants now include exotic birds on their menu.
Wild duck doesn8217;t work for everyone. There8217;s little meat on the bird, and it has a strong gamey flavour. So when I was offered Peking Duck at a swish Chinese restaurant, I was a tad worried.
One hesitant forkful later, I was pleasantly surprised. Battery ducks8212;bred on farms like most market-bought chickens8212;are plump and meaty. And even the most fastidious foodie won8217;t cavil at the smell8212;there isn8217;t any; at any rate, no more than your average chicken.
Duck, quail, guinea fowl and turkey are rapidly appearing on haute cuisine menus. Duck is traditionally served as a roast, usually with an orange sauce, like the French classic, Duck a L8217;Orange. Cumberland sauce8212;made with red currants8212;is another standard.
Then there8217;s the Asian favourite, Peking Duck, served with Hoisin sauce and delicate Chinese pancakes. These classics apart, innovative chefs are giving this fowl a fillip.
Amit Choudhari, executive chef of The Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, says he often marinates his ducks with Thai spices, oven roasts them and serves on a bed of lemongrass infused wild rice.
Choudhari has ordered 200 kg of Butterball turkey from the US for the Christmas season, and fears that he may still run short.Ritu Dalmia, who runs the popular Italian restaurant Diva, in south Delhi, says duck entrees are as popular as lamb. Diva8217;s menu also features guinea fowl and quail. In fact, Roast Quail with Pate de Foie Gras pate made of goose or duck liver will soon replace the current Wood-Roasted Duck with Balsamic and Cocoa Sauce. I raise my brows at the 8216;cocoa sauce8217;, but am assured that it8217;s a Sicilian classic.
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BIRD BASICS
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| Duck The average bird weighs around 2 to 2.5 kg, so it8217;s enough to feed the family. It8217;s usually oven roasted whole, much like chicken. Many restaurants serve just the breast portions. Duck, just as pork, goes well with sweet flavours, so the usual accompaniments for duck are fruity flavours like orange, cherry, red currant and apricot. Turkey Weighing an average of 4-6 kg, you8217;ll need a hearty appetite to get through this bird in one sitting. The white meat is low in cholesterol, so it fits well into home menus. Goose Uncommon on Indian menus, Pate de Foie Gras, is made with goose liver. Here8217;s how Choudhari serves it: Pan-Seared Goose Liver |
The confidence in evolving taste buds is running high; Choudhari even does an uncommonly good, but calorifically disastrous Pan-Seared Goose Liver with Balsamic Vinaigrette.
If all this sounds terribly expensive, then a couple of farms on the capital8217;s outskirts will home deliver. The French Farm, run by Roger Langbour, just outside Delhi on the Jaipur highway, supplies most of the five stars, including The Oberoi and the Taj hotels.
The birds are raised on organic feed. Besides the various fowl, which include both Muscovy and Peking ducks, Langbour is excited about his latest offering8212;Rainbow Chicken, so named for its splendidly coloured plumage. The French expat states emphatically that the meat is more tender because the birds are allowed to grow at their normal pace of two to three months.
Gayatri Organic Farms, run by Vivek Kushwaha, caters to individual requirements. If, for instance, a particular chef requires squabs chickens that weigh around 500 gm, he8217;ll breed them. When you order duck or turkey at Rahul Akerkar8217;s Indigo in Mumbai, chances are it has come from Gayatri Farms in Gurgaon.
Ducks from both farms cost about Rs 180 per kg, corn-fed chickens are Rs 100 per kg, and a guinea fowl from Langbour8217;s French Farm is Rs 220. Pass up the broiler. Have a quacking good Sunday duck curry!
