Duck, Duck, Goose: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Waterfowl, Both Farmed and Wild

“Duck, Duck, Goose” really nailed down several points before I even got to the first recipe – Hank Shaw can WRITE, his knowledge of how to find and prepare wild ingredients is exhaustive, and he doesn’t assume you are a trained chef when he puts his thoughts in writing.From the very beginning of the book, Mr. Shaw’s enthusiasm for what, in my moderate experience east of the Mississippi, is something of a lost cuisine is an amazing thing to read. Take the very first paragraph of the book as an example:"Cooking a duck or goose in today’s world is an act of expression. It is a way to find that forgotten feast we Americans once enjoyed, to free ourselves from the Tyranny of the Chicken and shake our fists at the notion that fat is our enemy. Mastering these birds will make you a more competent carnivore. It will help you regain the skills needed to tackle more challenging morsels, such as giblets and wings and rendered fat. Cooking a duck or goose – a whole bird, from bill to feet – is real cooking. True, honest cooking."I’ve eaten in upstate New York (all of the Southern Tier really) all over Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Jamaica, the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan, and while I will admit, VERY few of the restaurants would show up in a foodie’s guidebook, the only, ONLY time’s I’ve EVER seen duck on the menu was in Chinese restaurants and at Number 5′s in Binghamton, New York. The Peking Duck at the Chinese restaurant tasted like it had been dipped in kerosene and left on blacktop for a week, while the wild boar bacon wrapped duck tenderloin appetizer at Number 5′s was phenomenal. So, two experiences, in just shy of 44 years, is not really a wide base from which to compare waterfowl cookery, but I’m damn well going to do it anyway.Mr. Shaw approaches the topic of how to cook the birds from the very start of the process – what to do after you’ve shot a bird out in the marshes or fields. He addresses hanging the birds versus not hanging the birds, which approach to use in different situations, how each SPECIES of duck or goose might be cared for, and how to use each species, and each part of the bird, for best effect. In fact, because like all hunting, you may NOT get the bird you want, Mr. Shaw even addresses how to use store-bought birds in the same recipes.That’s one of the wonderful, wonderful things about this book – if you spend the day duck hunting, and end up with four different species, this book will enable you to cook all of them without having to think to yourself “Two pintails, a mallard and a teal, what now?”Some of the birds discussed in the book are:MallardTealBluebill (Scaup)GadwallNorthern PintailNorthern Shoveler (Spoonie)WigeonRedheadCanvasback (King Can)Wood Duck (Woodies)RingneckSurf ScoterRuddyDomestic bird breeds and geese are also covered, and I mean COVERED – in the kitchen, this book will tell you which birds to break down, which ones to keep whole, how to break them down, how to store them, how to render the fat, how to sear, how to make your own duck sausage or salami, everything from confit to jerky.Mr. Shaw even covers what the various species of birds prefer to eat, and how that affects the flavor considering what part of the migration or mating season they are in, which, for somebody like myself who may now be poking a shotgun barrel into the sky this year, is very important. I now know that if I am cleaning the bird, and I see orange colored fat, to discard the fat and how to use the bird to avoid the fishy flavor of a crustacean eating duck.Instructions on how to pluck your waterfowl, or if you should skin them, are also included.This book provides hunters and foodies a glimpse into WHY ducks are so treasured in haute cuisine, including some tidbits of history, such as how Canvasback ducks were priced for the table a hundred years ago (the cost of several days wages for an average person.)I gathered from this book that duck and goose is making a culinary comeback. If so, I’m looking forward to it, though my treadmill might groan at the extra miles I’ll have to put on it to compensate.SummaryIf you like to hunt and read, this book is a fantastic window into the world of waterfowl. If you like to cook and you don’t hunt, this might get you curious to try hunting, or to branch out into cooking domestic ducks and geese. This is a wonderful, wonderful bridge between what a lot of the public sees as ‘light beer drinking redneckery’ and ‘pass the canapes,’ which the general public incorrectly sees as a form of snobbery. (In fact, take the case of Duck Dynasty and put them in Downton Abbey… because that’s how the general public probably sees hunters in comparison to gourmet food.) Neither stereotype is true – I work with people who are very well educated, have good golf averages, enjoy the arts, and hunt, and anyone who thinks “Downton Abbey” when they think of haute cuisine needs to read Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” to dispel that thought.Hank Shaw has effortlessly* bridged that perception gap with a book that could make the most agoraphobic city-dwelling foodie think “Maybe, if I shoot at the sky to get a duck, I won’t notice the lack of buildings wrapped around me…” and at the same time, might make somebody who’s pickup truck doesn’t fit under the average overpass think “Y’know, maybe going into the city for a bite to eat would be worth it!” (Though, honestly, most of the folks I know who hunt would just damn well read the recipes and cook the birds themselves…)

Hank Shaw has done it again. Actually, he cranked up his game.Whereas his first book, Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, was more broadly educational and narrative than culinary in scope (don't get me wrong, the recipes in his first book were noteworthy -- and ones I consult regularly -- but the book dealt largely with the hows and wheres of wild food), his sophomore title transformed his voice into that of a world-class cookbook author.If you enjoy Hank's down-to-earth, conversational tone of writing, you may be a bit disappointed. It's still there, of course, but there are less anecdotes. More attention is paid to the food and techniques themselves. But if you enjoy Hank's recipes, you will be more than pleased. The same is true if you're a fan of Holly's photography; just thumbing through the pages will have your mouth watering by the time you're done.This book starts with an overview of the species that's succinct, yet with careful attention to just the right amount of detail that even an experienced cook or waterfowl hunter will learn something new. He goes through the main breeds (both domestic and wild), includes a step-by-step tutorial (with accompanying pictures) of how to butcher waterfowl, along with practices more specific to wild waterfowl (plucking, hanging, gutting, etc.) The only criticism I have of the introductory material is that it would have been nice to have a representative picture of each duck next to the description of its culinary merit. There's a handful of pictures, but if you're curious or have never hunted for waterfowl, you may find yourself Googling a picture of each to refresh your memory.But when you get to the recipes, you'll be blown away. Duck and geese really are more versatile than most home cooks realize, a fact that becomes quite evident just a few recipes in, and one that is emphasized as you continue on through.Hank covers a variety of techniques -- roasting, barbecuing, smoking, sauteeing, braising, charcuterie, etc. -- and a perfect representation of a variety of ethnic recipes. There's a fair amount of focus on French, German, and Asian recipes, but you'll also find Greek, Mexican, and even American fare with a waterfowl twist. The recipes range from the simple (Slow-Roasted Duck, which requires just 3 ingredients in addition to a bird) to those for the most ambitious home cook (Italian Duck Cacciatore Salami, which is a stuffed sausage that ferments and then cures.) It includes recipes to make use of giblets (like a tasty-sounding German dish called Ganseklein), duck fat (a duck fat-based hollandaise), and even duck eggs (pasta, cake, etc.)Although some reviewers have made the criticism that the book is more slanted toward wild waterfowl than domesticated, I don't think that's quite true. He gives fair treatment to both. But when you look at the picture on page 63, comparing the breast of a supermarket pekin (which looks like your typical chicken breast) to a wild mallard breast (which looks like a steak), you decide for yourself that wild birds are supreme in terms of flavor. After all, even the best-cooked chicken breast will have nothing on a perfectly-cooked steak.I will say that I did have a sinking feeling in my gut as I finished the book (and it's one that you may feel too). I was disappointed. I felt like something was lacking. As I sat trying to figure out exactly what the problem was, it hit me: there aren't any birds in my freezer! So, although I'm eager to dive headfirst into the many recipes that he shares, for now I have to sit tight until the next time I get a chance to get out on the water and hunt my limit. Not at all a criticism of the book, but be warned: after looking through this book, you might be reaching for your shotgun more than you did last year.