SC - duck press?

[Elaine Koogler]

I was under the impression that you could still get pressed duck in some of the
finer restaurants....am I mistaken?

Kiri

Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> Stefan li Rous wrote:
> >
> > Margali commented:
> > > but then again, I use a duck press to press my cider...
> >
> > Umm. Do I really want to ask this...? What is a duck press? and what
> > is it used for? Is this really something you put chunks of duck meat
> > into, to squish them flat or something? Maybe this gets rid of all the
> > grease in ducks?
>
> This is primarily a 19th-early-20th-century French haute cuisine
> thing... there is a preparation called, IIRC, canard au sang, loosely
> translated, "bloody duck". Since waterfowl aren't subject to salmonella
> and such, their meat doesn't have to be cooked to the same stage of
> doneness as, say, chicken or turkey. Duck au sang is made by roasting a
> duck rare (rare duck isn't all that different from rare roast lamb or
> beef, actually, although rare duck legs are a bit tough, and you have to
> remove the tendons more or less surgically if you aren't going to cook
> the legs fully), then taking the carved carcass and squeezing/crushing
> it in a duck press to extract a rich, red juice which isn't actually
> blood, but looks a bit like it. You then use this juice to quickly make
> a sauce, usually in a chafing dish at the table, while the duck meat is
> still hot, and serve the meat with the sauce. Waiters in fine
> restaurants used to wheel the roast duck out to your table on a little
> cart, carve, press, sauce and serve right in the presence of the diners.
> Benihanas of Paris, essentially.
>
> Adamantius
> --
> Phil & Susan Troy
>
> troy at asan.com
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