Recipes

Duck Palmina (Anitra di Palmina)

July 28, 2015
Duck Palmina (Anitra di Palmina)

Ingredients

  • 1 duck
  • 2 tablespoons of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of fine black pepper
  • 1/2 liter of Arneis wine
  • one onion
  • one carrot
  • two celery stalks
  • 1/2 kg of new potatoes
  • season salad
  • 1 glass of  Cognac
  • a bowl of beef broth

What’s needed

  • a copper pot
  • a carving fork
  • a carving knife

Preparation

Take a fresh duck, pluck it, remove the innards, clean well and singe; then remove the head and neck, the tip of the wings, the legs, the rear glands and throw them away.

Take a small copper pot and place the duck inside adding salt and pepper, then drown it in Arneis wine (or other white wine), place a lid on the pot and cook until the wine evaporates and what remains is a thin layer of sauce (the duck’s fat) at the bottom of the pot.

Remove the duck from the copper casserole and remove the remaining sauce, place the duck back in the pot and begin cooking again after adding the chopped onion, carrot and celery simmered in olive oil, basting from time to time with the broth and two half glasses of cognac.

Then slice into pieces, which are put on a hot serving plate, add its sauce, served with buttered new potatoes and fresh salad or chicory.

Interesting info

I tasted this dish the first time when I was about fifteen years old, prepared by a woman who, upon my insistence, made it countless other times; improving each time. And as a form of gratitude I named it after her.

Cooked as per the recipe, it’s tasty and without any fat, very pleasant to the palate and the harmonic fusion of its ingredients are quite simple as with most of the Langhe dishes.

There can be no comparison with other dishes like orange duck or the new “culture” dishes, which try to introduce strong flavors, even violent, to cover the unpleasant taste of a duck which isn’t cooked with art.