A favorite duck with many good diners is the mallard, and when they
are in good condition they are quite worthy the favor shown them. It
is only a matter of choice whether they shall be roasted or broiled;
if the latter way is decided upon, then a garnishing of fried celery
makes a tempting dish more tempting still. Only the tender, smallest
stocks of celery should be used, and then, after being dipped in
frying batter, they should be fried quickly in butter. These birds,
and, in fact, all others, when being broiled or roasted, should not be
salted till about two minutes before removing from the fire. If the
salt is put on earlier the meat is apt to be tough and the quality of
the flavor somewhat injured. I don't know that cookery books give this
direction explicitly, but I have found from experience that it is the
case.
If you are to have your mallards roasted, then by all means make a
sour-apple marmalade, strain it through a sieve and add to it half its
quantity of unsweetened whipped cream. If you have never tried this
sauce with roasted duck, then, my word for it, there is a
gastronomical delight waiting for you, and I wouldn't advise you to
keep it waiting long, for you will be the loser.
Don't you recognize in this sauce an old friend in a new dress? Why,
of course, roast duck and apple sauce is a dish our great-grandmothers
were fond of; but this latter-day manner of preparing the sauce, you
see, idealizes it a bit and renders it so much the daintier.
Another duck of delectable flavor is the ruddy duck, or broadbill, as
it is known in some localities. They live in the fresh ponds
hereabouts, and as long as the ponds remain unfrozen the ducks will be
quite satisfied with this climate.
Teal ducks, too, especially the blue-winged, are of excellent flavor,
and, in addition to this, the meat is said to be highly nutritious and
easily digested, making them desirable for convalescents. There is
also a green-winged teal, but it is far inferior to the
first-mentioned variety.
One cannot very well decide upon the particular kind of game and the
manner in which it shall be served without giving some thought to the
salad that in reality acts as its supplement. And the same rule which
forbids the serving of a rich, heavy sauce with game applies to
salads. The simpler the salad the more keenly will you relish the
game. Chopped celery, lettuce, chicory, watercress or cucumbers, with
a simple French dressing, are the salads _par excellence_ to be served
with game.
By the way, not long ago some one wrote to a certain weekly published
in New York asking if it was "good form" to serve the game and the
salad on the same plate. It doesn't seem to me to be a matter in any
way to be governed by what is called "good form." Good taste and a
very superficial knowledge of epicureanism would enable their
possessor to understand that hot game should be hot, not lukewarm, and
that the salads should be cold, and the only way to accomplish this is
to have a plate for each.
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