Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 79II. nodaļa

Mežu pīle ar spēku sulas

Wild duck braised in a strong sauce of pea broth, mushrooms and capers

  • Serves 4
  • about 2½ hours
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

1796Meschu pihle ar spehku sullas.

Modernizētslpp. 120 · PDF 134
4 porcijas

The book gives no quantities; the amounts below are ours.

Method

6 soļi
  1. Make the pea broth: simmer the peas in the water, partly covered, for 45–60 minutes, until they fall apart. Pour through a sieve, pressing lightly so a little of the purée goes through. You need about 400 ml of cloudy broth; keep the rest of the peas for soup.
  2. Lay a rack, or a few wooden skewers laid crosswise, in a casserole that fits both ducks. Put the ducks on it breast up and pour in the salted water. Cover and simmer gently on the hob for 30 minutes.
  3. Heat the oven to 180 °C. In a small pan, heat the 50 g butter until it foams and turns nut-brown, and pour it over the ducks. Add the vinegar, pea broth, cloves, mushrooms and capers.
  4. In the same small pan, melt the 25 g butter, stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until nut-brown, about 5 minutes. Whisk in a ladle of the liquid from the casserole, then stir it all back into the casserole with the sugar.
  5. Cover and braise in the oven for 45 minutes. Then take off the lid, turn the oven up to 220 °C and cook for another 15–20 minutes, basting twice, until the ducks are brown and tender and the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75 °C.
  6. Lay the ducks in a warm dish, pour the sauce around them and garnish with the lemon slices.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the method is the book's: the duck set on sticks in a pot with salted water for half an hour over the coals, then hot brown butter, wine vinegar, white-pea broth, crushed cloves, cooked mushrooms, capers, browned flour and sugar, all simmered together under a lid heaped with coals until the duck browns, and served with lemon slices. The oven, the times and all amounts are ours.

"Strong sauce"

we read spēku sula as a strong, reduced sauce, like the German Kraftbrühe; the reading is not certain. The pea broth gives it body and an earthy taste. We use split peas, which cook quickly; whole dried white peas work too but need soaking overnight and about 1½ hours' cooking.

The missing verb

the book says "with hot brown butter" without a verb; we pour it over the ducks, as the book does with brown butter in 02-077.

Wild duck

mallard is the usual wild duck on sale in season. A farmed duck (about 2 kg) also works; braise it for about 1½ hours and pour off the fat before making the sauce. Check wild birds for lead shot.

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