France and the Alps · Volume 14, The Duck and the Border
Magret de Canard
Gascony, Auch
Illustration
- Time
- 18 minutes
- Researched
- 20 sources cited
Before Daguin, the breast of a fattened duck was reserved for confit; treating it as a standalone seared cut, rare to rosé, is a genuinely modern idea that reorganised the whole regional duck industry around demand for it.
As tradition built it
Serves 2. About 12 minutes' cooking and 6 minutes' rest.
Ingredients
- 1 magret de canard du Sud-Ouest
- to taste fleur de sel
- to taste black pepper, from the mill
Method
- Remove the sinews on the flesh side so the magret does not shrink and buckle.
- Score the fat in a crosshatch, very lightly, never cutting the flesh. Season generously.
- Lay it skin down in a lukewarm pan and raise the heat gradually to high, about 7 to 8 minutes, until the fat is crisp.
- Pour off the fat, turn the magret and season again.
- Finish in a 160°C oven, 2 to 3 minutes for rosé or 5 to 6 for à point.
- Rest it on a rack under foil 6 minutes, then slice.
Notes
The method is chef Christophe Girardot's, for the IGP Canard à foie gras du Sud-Ouest. It starts in a lukewarm pan, not a cold one, and finishes in the oven.
What a modern chef changes
The rendering stage controlled more precisely, and the resting stage extended.
Rung 2
Method
- Weigh the breast and calculate rendering time from its thickness rather than a fixed number of minutes, since a thicker breast needs a longer cold-start render to crisp fully before the flesh side overcooks.
- Rest the cooked breast under foil for a full 5 minutes before slicing, longer than many home versions allow, so the juices redistribute evenly.
- Deglaze the resting pan with a small measure of Armagnac, per Rung 4, off the heat, for a two-minute sauce that uses the very fat just rendered rather than discarding it.