Meat
Whole duck
Also called duck, Pekin duck, Long Island duck, oven-ready duck
A whole oven-ready duck, usually the white Pekin breed, sold with the skin intact and the giblets inside. It carries a thick layer of fat under the skin, which is what renders out and leaves the skin crisp when it is roasted.
Origin
Pekin ducks were bred around Beijing for the roasting oven and are now farmed worldwide. Most supermarket ducks in Britain, the United States and Australia are Pekin or Pekin crosses. Chinese butchers often sell them with the head and feet still on.
Flavour
Rich, dark-fleshed and gamier than chicken, with fat that tastes clean and slightly sweet. The skin, once rendered and dried, is the prize.
How to use it
Dry the skin well before roasting, scald or prick it so the fat can escape, and roast on a rack so the bird does not sit in its own fat. Save the rendered fat for potatoes and the carcass for stock.
Storage
Keep raw duck in the coldest part of the fridge for up to two days, or freeze it for up to six months. For roasting, leave it unwrapped on a rack in the fridge for a day; the skin dries and crisps far better.
