266 COOKERY OF DUCKS AND GEESE 



carefully dressed for the table. They must be closely 

 watched in the oven : five minutes of excess means 

 ruin. Twenty-two to twenty-five minutes is the 

 time with a slow fire and a quick oven. After the 

 duck is drawn, it should be wiped dry : water must 

 never touch it, and it should be hung and seasoned 

 before going to the fire. No blood should mingle 

 with the gravy : it gushes out, and of the richest, 

 at the incision of the knife. There is to be no 

 slicing : each bird is halved. The bonne bouche is the 

 triangle of meat, an inch thick, between the leg of 

 the wing and the curve of the breast. Serve, says an 

 authority, with dry champagne or burgundy, but as to 

 that I shall have my own remarks to make. In Mary- 

 land or Florida the canvas-back pairs off with the ter- 

 rapin, which precedes it. I cannot profess myself a 

 judge, for I have never been in the Southern States. 

 But I must say that, when exported to England, I find 

 the canvas-back a much over-rated delicacy. One 

 Christmas-day three of us dined at the Athenaeum in 

 absolutely solitary state. My convives were Herbert 

 Spencer and Sir Edward Hamley, and both had 

 travelled in America. The plat de soir was a brace 

 of canvas-backs, sent specially from Key West, 

 with a strong letter of recommendation. We all 

 agreed that the ducks were a disappointment, and 



