To Bake A Mallard
This mallard pie has a wonderful combination of spices, tartness, and duck meat flavor and has received rave reviews.
Country: England Century: 16th
- 1 duck (2-3 lbs.), de-boned and cut into pieces
- 3-4 medium onions
- 1/4 cup verjuice*
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. cloves
- 1/8 tsp. mace
- 1/4 tsp. thyme
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. chopped parsley
Grind onions with a mortar and pestle (or in a food processor), add verjuice, and strain out the solids, reserving the liquid.
In a large bowl, mix duck, salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and the onion/verjuice liquid. Place mixture into pie crust and sprinkle with parsley and thyme. Cover with top crust and bake at 350°F for about an hour, or until done (165°F).
*Verjuice is a difficult item to find in most parts of the U.S. A good substitute is a cup of white wine mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Original Recipe Sources
Source [ The Good Housewife's Jewell , T. Dawson]: To bake a Mallard. Take three or foure Onyons, and stampe them in a morter, then straine them with a saucer full of vergice, then take your mallard and put him into the iuyce of the sayde onyons, and season him with pepper, and salte, cloves and mace, then put your Mallard into the coffin with the saide juyce of the onyons, and a good quantity of Winter-savorye, a little tyme, and perselye chopped small, and sweete Butter, so close it up and bake it.