Marreco recheado

As tradition built it

Marreco recheado

Serves 4 to 6. 24 hours to marinate, then around 6 hours to cook.

Ingredients

• 1 whole duck
• 200ml white wine
• to taste garlic, salt, pepper, herbs, to season
• 1 red cabbage, shredded
• 1 apple, cored and sliced
• to taste vinegar and a little sugar, to taste
• as listed filling of choice: chicken heart, a bread or potato salad, or simply left unstuffed

Method

1. Marinate the duck at least 24 hours in the white wine and seasoning, turning occasionally.
2. Simmer the duck gently, whole, in its marinade and enough water to cover, for around 5.5 hours, until genuinely tender.
3. Transfer to a hot oven and roast until the skin is golden and crisp, basting with the cooking liquid.
4. Meanwhile, sauté the shredded red cabbage with the apple, a little vinegar and sugar, until soft and sweet sharp.
5. Stuff the cavity if using a filling, and serve the duck whole or carved, with the braised cabbage alongside.

What a modern chef changes

The bird broken down and each part cooked to its own logic, the composed cabbage a purée rather than a braise alone.

Rungs 2 and 3.

Method

1. Break the duck down into crown and legs. Confit the legs slowly in their own fat, and sous vide the breast in the wine marinade to a precise medium, rather than simmering the whole bird for hours and risking overcooked breast meat for the sake of tender legs.
2. Finish the breast skin side down in a hot pan for a real crust, and crisp the confit legs under a hot grill, before serving.
3. Purée half the braised cabbage and apple mixture in a high power blender, pass it through a chinois, and serve it as a smooth sauce beneath the duck, with the remaining cabbage kept whole alongside for texture, rather than serving the whole braise as a single rustic mass.