“Oh, how I love duck confit. The crisp skin, the unctuous flavorful meat. There are few things better. Seriously. It’s up there with bacon.”
– Michael Ruhlman, Notes from the Food World
Buenos Aires – Private party this last week for the coaching staff of U of Chicago’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, most of the menu picked from some favorites – the olive oil poached trout with romesco sauce and shaved avocado, a brussels sprout bisque, huatia sulcana, and chocolate-chili cake with chocolate-olive oil mousse. But, in the middle of all that, a standout dish…
Each plate, three rounds of soft, semolina and egg yolk pasta, layered with duck confit that I made the day before that I’d diced up and then mixed with a sauce of cream, melted goat cheese, and lots of roasted garlic. On top, asparagus that had been blanched, shocked, and then sauteed in duck fat, along with duck skin cracklings – I took the skin off the confit, slivered it, and then fried it in the duck fat. Some dishes were just meant to be.
Oh, duck cracklings! In french they are called gribenes…
Mmmm… no, in French they’re called “bersaudes” – “gribenes” is Yiddish, literally meaning “scraps”.
Oy vey, Dan! Vus iz geveizn fin dain sense of humor?
Ya know, it’s hard to convey a joke sometimes in a blog comment, have to admit, I didn’t pick it up. Let’s try this again….
“French gribenes? Wat do da French know from gribenes? Probably dey cook it in de treyf fat and top it with grated milchik… what do dey call dat in Yiddish… a gratin, nu?”
Better?
Gratin-shmatim! A gantzeh mamzer!
[…] Then on to one of my favorite fish preparations – with a green pepper cream and fried garlic – this time using fresh cod. And finally, a duo, side by side, of small portions of two duck dishes – seared magret with piquillo pepper sauce and mango chutney – without the eggplant puree since we’d started with a very similar one, and confit of duck and goat cheese cream in an open ravioli with fried asparagus. […]
[…] of my favorite duck creations, duck confit ravioli, the only real difference here in the garnish, using sauteed brussels sprouts leaves with a touch […]