Getting into the game | Duck

Duck meat is considered to be "white" meat, even though the meat on a duck is considerably darker than other poultry meats such as chicken or turkey.

The reason for this is that as ducks are more active in comparison to chickens for example, who spend most of the time sitting down or walking around, they need and use up more oxygen. The extra oxygen in the body of the duck or other types of game bird, gives their meat the darker red colour.

Due to the darker colour of the duck meat, this gives the meat a stronger and richer flavour.

Male vs female

A distinction is made between male and female ducks for culinary purposes. Female duck breasts are preferable to male as, though they are smaller they contain more fat and the meat is softer, making it more tender as well as sweeter.

Wild vs domestic

Domestic birds are much fattier than their wilder counterparts.As a function of work and age, game meat muscle is denser, that muscle is linked by connective tissue stronger than that of its barnyard cousins — and will be covered by less fat. However, proper cooking methods bring out a depth of flavour that cannot be achieved with the domestic bird.

Nutritional content

Duck has a much higher fat content than its leaner cousins the chicken and turkey, which gives the meat its distinctive flavour. For this reason it is not a good idea to consume duck on a regular basis and the flavourful meat should be reserved as a treat.

One cup of roasted duck meat with skin contains 472 calories, 357 of which come from fat. It also contains 13.5g of saturated fat.

In comparison one cup of roasted chicken with skin contains 276 calories with only 98 of those coming from fat. It also has considerably less saturated fat with only 3.1g.

Removing the skin and fat will reduce the amount of calories in the meal but will also reduce the flavours.

Like other meat sources, duck is high in protein and contains a good amount of B vitamins with smaller amounts of Vitamin A, E and K and trace minerals

Preparation

There is a lot of fat on duck breasts, which if not trimmed down will result in dramatic flaming and consequent unwanted smoking. Place the duck breasts skin side down on the chopping board. Run your fingers along between the fatty skin and the meat to begin to separate the two.

Keeping the breasts skin side down, trim the loose fat off to around 5mm from the edges of the meat on each side and at the top and the bottom of each breast. Do not trim off any of the meat. Turn the breast skin side up and score the fat at 1cm intervals, criss-crossed on a diagonal, giving a diamond harlequin pattern.

The distinct flavour and taste of the duck meat means that it can be cooked with fruits or other sweet and spicy ingredients to give a delicious and exotic tasting meal, which can be an exciting alternative to traditional turkey or chicken dishes.

One disadvantage of buying a duck is that they are essentially smaller in size than a chicken or turkey and so you will end up with less meat. If you are cooking for a large number of people, it may be a better idea to buy two smaller ducks.