A good duck, cooked and roasted well, is always a great treat! It’s something rarely seen these days in restaurants due to the time constraints of its preparation and cooking.

Duck breasts and supreme’s have taken the place of a the classic roast duck on restaurant menus, being speedier to prepare and cook… a great shame because a whole roast duck is far more flavoursome! I find the best way to roast a duck is without any stuffing, since this allows the excess fat to freely drain away. Any stuffing placed inside the bird will merely become a fatty and unpleasant stodgy mess; I prefer to make the stuffing separately in the form of stuffing balls, lightly dusted in flour, fried in vegetable oil and served as an accompaniment. This is a very classic dish, seen on many restaurant menus 30 years or so ago but is now considered to be unfashionable.

The piquancy of the orange sauce marries superbly with the duck’s fatty character and is one of those timeless classic food combinations. I have lightened the sauce from the original classic recipe by taking out the flour… this revered dish is well overdue
for the reincarnation it deserves!

Serves 4
1 x 2kg Free range duck
Dressed with giblets
Salt & pepper
To Garnish
2 Oranges segmented
2 Bunches watercress
The Stock
1 Stick celery
1 Small onion
1 bay leaf
500ml Water
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

The Sauce
The juice & rind of two oranges
2 Tbsp Dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp Raspberry vinegar
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier
2 Tsp Cornflour
25g Butter
The Stuffing
1 Small head of celery
200g White bread crumbs
(slightly stale)