Canvasback, King of Ducks
Mar 27th, 2008 | By Hank | Category: Wild Game | Comments | 10 Comments |
I did it. I jacked up my courage and roasted my first canvasback duck. So what? Well, if you spend any time at all looking at either the history of duck hunting in America or the history of fine dining in this country, you will find that canvasbacks have always been regarded as the King of Ducks.
So yeah, I admit it: I didn’t want to mess this one up. Holly and I pulled off a miracle last season and each got one at the Yolo Bypass; they were the only cans we shot the whole year, the only cans we’ve ever shot.
Let me start by stating that canvasbacks are big, up to 3.5 pounds for a drake, like this one. They are stocky, aristocratic diver ducks that spend most of their time eating wild celery, sago, wigeon grass and little bugs. They will on occasion eat clams.
It is this size, combined with the wild celery, that makes canvasbacks so sought-after. During the Gilded Age, robber barons shot them by the score on the Chesapeake Bay, where most cans spend their winters.
Market hunters did their best to provide the swells, but canvasbacks have never been the most common of ducks: In 1880, a pair of cans cost the equivalent of $66 in modern dollars at the markets of New York City. A brace of mallards were one-third that price.
This menu at right is typical of the period: It is from New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1898, and the only recognizable menu item in this extravagant banquet of classic French dishes is “Canard Canvas Back.” Even then, a canvasback needed nothing fancy to make it shine.
I followed the Waldorf-Astoria’s lead, browning the duck’s skin on all sides before roasting it at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, leaving it good and rare. This drake was huge and fat, and, quite frankly, could have served three people. But Holly and I were eager to gorge ourselves like Leland Stanford or J.P Morgan.
And to do that we needed port. For the sauce, I added a bit of flour to the pan drippings and cooked it into a tan roux. I then added a jigger (or two) of 1993 Rutherford Hill port to deglaze. Once it cooked down into a paste, I added salt and a cup of homemade duck stock. I let that cook down by half, then added 2 tablespoons of red current jelly. Red current jelly is the sine qua non of Gilded Age game cookery. It appears everywhere on old menus. I will post more on this delicious condiment later.
Poured under the canvasback, with polenta (made of course with duck fat and duck broth!) and simple steamed asparagus and we had ourselves a meal worthy of the captains of industry.
There are many old recipes for canvasback, but I particularly enjoy this one from 1945, written by the great outdoor writer Roy Wall.
Oh my GAWD. You have made me feel sorry for myself, once again…I am no huntress, and will probably never experience something like this.
SIGH>>>>It sound lovely and decadent.
…and pâté with the fat and innards, and cognac maybe?
What did you drink?
Sadly, no pate. We drank a 2004 Montevina Zinfandel, the School House Road blend. It was good, but I probably should have opened a Chateauneuf du Pape.
And I did have a splash of Cerbois Bas Armagnac to relax with afterwards. That was good…
Poor me. This is how I eat on weeknights.
Thanks Hank! Life is so yummy with you.
-Holly
Just saw your post – we seared our last two canvasback filets last week. They were marinated for 2 days in chicken broth, then frozen until last week. I am sad to say that we were short on my buddy’s dry rub, and instead….gulp….had to rub them with Emeril’s seasoning….oh well, they were still delicious. Love your blog!
Nothing wrong with Emeril’s seasoning. And I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog!
That sounds great.. guess I’ll have to wait until next season to see if my husband or anyone gets a Canvas back…the only one we have around here is on the wall along with a couple dozen other variety of ducks and geese, deer etc.
Sounds delicious. I guess I’ll have to get into hunting just so I can eat a Canvasback (and woodcock)
Did you hang the bird?
I did not hang the bird, although I did age it in the fridge for a week before freezing; it’s almost the same as hanging — I just hate the idea of plucking a week-old bird…
We’ve been lucky the last few years to have horrible seasons for hunting (weather hung right around freezing), but perfect for aging meat! Our game (when we harvest anything) has been outstanding the last 3 years. Maybe next year we’ll be overrun with ducks with mediocre taste, and it’ll be too cold to hang them, ha ha.
No such thing as plucking a week-old bird. More like “tearing apart” a week-old bird.