[Sca-cooks] Re: geese and ducks

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

> Also sprach Kirsten Houseknecht:
> >some of my books espressly state that duck fat is "fishier and stronger
> >tasting" than goose fat.
>
> I think this, as a generalization, is probably fairly accurate,
> taking into account wild ducks and their diet. However, it's probably
> not especially valid where domesticated ducks are concerned, and
> probably varies by species/variety anyway.
>
> Apart from my own experience, which suggests that duck fat isn't
> fishy at all, I've also seen written accounts of wild ducks that
> lived on various aquatic critters being somewhat fishy, and the
> things you can do to counteract that. I think the potential for
> fishiness is more or less at the extreme end of the range.
>
> Adamantius

It probably depends a lot on where the advice is coming from. Back when I
was in college, I learned from the head of maintenance that the Canada
geese in the area spent too much time grazing in various fields that had
been fertilized the natural way. As a result, that's pretty much what they
tasted like. Seems he'd hit one, coming home one night, and being a
practical sort, brought it home to cook. Once it started to warm up in the
oven, the entire house was filled with the lovely scent of cow manure.

In Maddhur Jaffrey's _Flavors of India_, she talks about the difference in
the flavor of ducks being dependent on what they have been eating, as
well. It's in one of the chapter intros, when she's describing the
cooking practices of one of her acquaintances.

Margaret