Muscovy duck

Canard de Barbarie

What it is

Nothing in the name is right: the bird comes from tropical South America, was domesticated by Amerindians and carried to Europe on Spanish ships in the sixteenth century, when Barbary simply meant somewhere far off. Its species name, moschata, means musky, which is a fair account of the smell of the raw flesh.

In the kitchen

The female is half the weight of the male and far better eating; a whole male roasts unevenly. With almost no fat under the skin, bard the breast or roast it briefly at 200 °C and finish it in the rest — treat it as game, not as duck.

Goes with

Olive Orange Olive oil Thyme Garlic Turnip Honey Black pepper

Same species

Mulard duck

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us