Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 78II. nodaļa

Mežu pīle (raudava) ar salnumu

Wild duck in sweet-sour aspic

  • Serves 4 as a cold main course, 6 as a starter
  • about 4 hours, plus at least 12 hours to set
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

1796Meschu pihle (raudawa) ar salnumu.

Modernizētslpp. 119–120 · PDF 133–134
4 porcijas

The book gives ½ mārciņa of hartshorn and 4 calves' feet for the jelly, or 1 lotiņš of isinglass instead of the hartshorn, which converts to about 210 g hartshorn or 13 g isinglass; it gives no amounts for the duck, vinegar or sugar.

Method

8 soļi
  1. Start the jelly first, or the day before. Put the trotters in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, drain and rinse them (our addition: blanching gives a clearer jelly). Return them to the clean pan with 2 l fresh water and the lemon zest. Simmer very gently, uncovered, for 3–4 hours, until reduced to about 700 ml and a few drops on a cold plate set firm in the fridge within 10 minutes.
  2. Strain the stock through a sieve lined with damp muslin. Leave to settle, then lift or blot off all the fat.
  3. Meanwhile, soak the ducks in cold water for 1 hour. Drain and joint them: legs, thighs, breasts in two, and the back cut in pieces. Sprinkle with the salt and cloves.
  4. Bring the vinegar, water and sugar to the boil, pour over the duck in a non-metallic or enamelled pan and simmer, covered, until tender: 1–1½ hours for wild duck, about 1 hour for farmed duck. The thighs should reach 75 °C.
  5. Lift out the duck. Strain the cooking liquid through muslin and skim off the fat.
  6. Add 100–150 ml of the duck liquid to the jelly stock with 1 tbsp sugar and simmer together for 10 minutes. Taste: it should be clearly sweet and sour; add sugar or wine vinegar to balance. Test the set again on a cold plate. If it is soft, take it off the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine until dissolved.
  7. Arrange the duck pieces in a deep dish with lemon slices between them and leave them to cool. When the jelly is cool but still liquid, pour it over to cover the duck.
  8. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours (the book says 24 hours in the cellar). Serve cold, spooned or cut from the dish.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the method is the book's: the duck soaked, chopped into pieces, seasoned with salt and ground cloves, boiled in sweetened vinegar until tender; a jelly of washed hartshorn and lemon peel with four calves' feet, boiled until a drop sets on a plate, strained through cloth, sharpened with some of the duck's vinegar, sugar and wine vinegar, boiled together for another hour and poured over the cold duck and lemon slices; 24 hours in the cellar. Diluting the vinegar, the trotters and gelatine, the blanching and all times and amounts except the book's are ours.

Raudava is the common pochard (Aythya ferina), a diving duck. Diving ducks can taste fishy, which is why the book douses it in cloves and vinegar. The pochard is now listed as vulnerable and is protected in many countries; use mallard or a farmed duck instead.

Vinegar

the book boils the duck in sweetened vinegar alone. Today's 6% wine vinegar used neat would be harshly sour, so we dilute it half and half. Sense check: the book also adds wine vinegar to the jelly "if it isn't sour enough yet", so the dish is meant to be clearly sour.

Jelly

hartshorn (shavings or raspings of deer antler, German Hirschhorn) and isinglass (Hausenblase, dried sturgeon swim bladder) were the setting agents of the time, alongside calves' feet. Half a pound of hartshorn and four calves' feet make far more jelly than one duck needs; the manor kitchen probably used the rest elsewhere. Pig's trotters set just as well as calves' feet; the gelatine is a safety net.

Safety

keep the dish refrigerated and eat it within 3 days. Check wild duck for lead shot while jointing.

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