I spent an entire summer in Paris and instead of visiting the museums I spent four months searching out the best duck confit I could find. And there were so many excellent examples.
First and foremost, to qualify as excellent duck confit, the duck must posses a slightly gamy, ducky aroma and flavor. The meat must be tender of course, and the props go to a well-rendered and crispy skin to contrast with the meat. I also like the meat to be well-seasoned (I think there should be a little bit of a salty flavor permeating the meat). Away from the duck, I personally like there to be a sweet fruit element for contrast. But I know a lot of people don’t like fruit with savory.
About Alias: they have a $30 three-course supper on Sunday nights that is a good value. They also have a duck confit I love. On a recent visit, the duck confit was served on toasted cornbread with a smear of crème fraiche and jam.
Corn bread was an unusual choice to pair with duck, but sweet is a very important counterpoint to ducky. Cornbread might be a bit too dense and the creme fraiche was kinda lost in both flavor and aroma. Requisite fruit was present, this time in the form of brandied cherries. Yum.
As for the duck confit itself: perfectly ducky. Ducky aroma came up to meet me. Skin was perfectly rendered. Perfectly seasoned.
This is the benchmark for duck confit.
No comments:
Post a Comment