Duck Tales

If you cook often enough and boast a healthy sense of adventure, once in a while (and I mean rarely), you should/would/could create a dish so magnificent, it brings you to tears. I mean, down on your knees, weeping the name of the messiah (in this case, Neil Perry) sort of rapture. And it's not simply the depth of flavour or the stratums of texture that are deserving of exultation, but the effort in sourcing the ingredients, and the time and love expended to bring forth this dish.

This very morning, after a concerted search effort, I finally set upon a pair of succulent, shapely duck marylands at the Fox Studios EQ markets.

6 hours on, following a series of marinating, frying, casseroling and more boiling, frying and stirring, Nath and I sat at the dinner table, moisture gathering in our eyes.

I turned to him, fork poised in midair, and uttered with some reverence, "this pappardelle is truly a thing of beauty."

To which Nath, eyes still damp, muttered in response, "I hate my hair so much I could cry. Or kill the as*hole 20-something hairdresser who's turned me into a replica of himself..." The string of expletives that followed were mercifully muffled by a mouthful of ragu.

Here's the recipe:

Neil Perry's Duck Ragu Pappardelle

400gm pappardelle

4 good sized duck legs

1 carrot, halved and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 stick celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 onion, diced

1 head of garlic, halved

1 bay leaf

4 sprigs thyme

2 tblspn tomato paste

1 tblspn flour

750ml full-bodied red wine (eg cabernet sauvignon)

oil

750ml chicken stock

Shaved parmesan cheese

Directions:

Marinate duck, herbs, vegetables, garlic, onion and wine in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. Remove duck and vegetables from the marinade, and set marinade aside.

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees.

Heat some oil in a deep, non-stick fry pan with the lid on until it starts to smoke. Remove lid, brown the duck on both sides in pan, then remove. Note: I do this whilst wielding the pan lid as a shield, to protect myself from the ferocious smatterings of hot oil.

Tip out the oil, leaving about a tablespoon in the pan, then fry vegetables for 2 min. Add tomato paste and fry for another minute, then add flour and return duck to pan. Add marinade and stock, transfer to a casserole dish and bring to the boil (or you could do all the above directly in the casserole dish). Stick it in the oven for about 2 hours.

Remove duck, strain sauce and discard all the gunk. Shred duck and fold into sauce. Taste for seasoning.

Boil a large pot of water, add salt, then boil pasta till al dente. Mix into sauce. Serve with a good shaving of parmesan cheese and a side of bliss.