Duck heart

Cœur de canard

What it is

It is a by-product of the foie gras farms, sold cheap by the tray in Gers markets where the same ducks give the magret and the confit. The muscle works constantly and never rests, so it is dense and close-grained: it eats like a very small steak, not like offal.

In the kitchen

Split it, rinse the clot out of the chambers, and take off the pale fat cap at the top. Then either thirty seconds a side over charcoal, still red inside, or three hours at 85 °C in duck fat — the middle ground is where it turns to rubber.

Goes with

Duck fat Garlic Parsley Black pepper Shallot Red wine vinegar Thyme Potato

Same species

Mallard Pekin duck Century egg (pidan) Duck confit Stuffed duck neck Duck

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