Making confit of duck begins with curing the meat in salt with various herbs and spices (thyme, cumin, rosemary). After 24 hours or so the duck is washed with water, patted dry and then slow cooked in goose or duck fat for several hours. When ready it is cooled and stored in fat.

We take a different approach by slow cooking legs of wild duck in olive oil. Wild duck is bold in terms of flavour and aroma. It is gamey with a strong, earthy taste. Slow cooking softens the flavour. We added star anise to balance the intense flavour and aroma. It also brings sweetness, which is great with the slightly spicy sweet potato mash.

Wine Pairing

Best choice is a full bodied, red wine with ripe fruit and smoothness. We decided to open a bottle of Herdade de São Miguel Colheita Seleccionada as produced by Casa Relvas. Such a pleasure! Its colour is deep ruby and the aromas made us think of ripe black fruit and dark cherries with some spiciness. The wine is well balanced with a nice structure and smooth tannins. Works very well with the flavourful duck and the mash with its spicy character.

What You Need

• For the Confit
  • 6 Legs of Wild Duck (or 4 depending on the size)
  • 6 Star Anise
  • 12 Juniper Berries
  • Black Pepper
  • Olive Oil
• For the Sweet Potato Mash
  • 1 Sweet Potato
  • ½ Kashmiri Pepper
  • Milk
  • Crème Fraîche
  • Mustard
  • Black Pepper
  • Pinch of Salt

What You Do

1. Take a sheet of aluminium foil and place a leg in the middle
2. Add two lightly crushed juniper berries and one star anise
3. Add black pepper and a generous amount of olive oil
4. Wrap the foil around the leg
5. Take a second sheet of aluminium foil and wrap it around the package, making sure it’s closed
6. Repeat
7. Transfer packages to an oven at 120 °C or 240 °F
8. After one hour reduce the heat to 90 °C or 195 °F
9. After in total 3 hours, remove the legs from the oven, open the package and let cool (may take two hours)
10. Close the packages and transfer to the refrigerator for use the next day
11. Peel the sweet potato and cube
12. Crumble the pepper
13. Add potato cubes and pepper to a pan with some water and cook until the potato is soft, 10 – 15 minutes
14. Discard cooking liquid
15. Leave the potatoes on a plate for 5 minutes
16. Return to the pan and mash with a fork
17. Add warm milk, crème fraîche, mustard, black pepper, a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil
18. Just before serving add extra mustard, the mash must be a bit spicy
19. Discard the liquid from the duck
20. Pat the legs dry with kitchen paper
21. Fry the legs in a medium heavy iron skillet, meat side first
22. Increase the heat and fry the skin of the legs for 1 or 2 minutes
23. Serve immediately with the mash on a warm plate