508 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Dkg 26, 1903. 
How to Cook a Duck. 
New York, Dec. 14. — Editor Forest and Stream: In 
the cooking of game birds two points — according to my 
view — must constantly be remembered: a white meated 
bird is to be thoroughly cooked ; that is to say, must show 
no red in the flesh of breast or legs ; a dark meated bird 
is to be cooked rare, that is to say, when carved the red 
juices should follow the knife. Though a white meated 
bird should be thoroughly cooked, it should not be dried 
up. The tendency in cooking white meated birds like 
quail is to cook them so thoroughly that the legs become 
hnrd and dry and the breast muscles are dried up and 
chippy, and really hardly more toothsome than so much 
poplar wood. 
It is perfectly well recognized — ^and the Forest and 
STRE.A.M has called attention to it many times — that the 
flesh of birds and mammals takes its flavor from the food 
on which the creature feeds. Therefore if the flesh of a 
duck, let us say, has a strong taste, as often have the 
mergansers and many sea ducks, it may be permissible to 
disguise this flavor by the addition of other flavors. I can 
conceive that a merganser, a coot, or an old squaw might 
be improved by a dressing of which onion, sage, and 
other strongly flavored herbs might form a part, or that 
jellies or highly flavored sauces might render them more 
palatable; but I believe that, given a bird whose flavor in 
itself is delicious, any attempt to improve that flavor is 
dangerous. For example, I should never think of using 
jelly on a canvasback, redhead, or widgeon. These are 
Lirds which in many sections have a distinct and pleas- 
ing flavor of their own, drawn from the food on which 
they subsist. Yet nothing is more common than to see 
currant jelly served with good ducks. This I believe to 
be a great mistake. I would no more eat currant jelly 
with canvasback than I would mar the flavor of a good 
cup of after dinner coffee by mixing with sugar or 
cream. 
Believing, as I do, that a duck should be cooked rare, 
I still think that it should be cooked through. The oven 
must be hot, the bird without dressing — ^i. e., its visceral 
cavity empty — will cook from within as well as from 
without, and the operation will be performed quickly. 
Ovens, like cooks, have their idiosyncrasies, and the men 
and women who are to eat the ducks have different 
tastes. Therefore laws may not be laid down; only 
opinions can be expressed. 
As the tendency is to cook ducks too much, so it is to 
dry up and destroy the flavor of the toothsome sora, snipe, 
and woodcock, three of the most delicious of our 
American birds. Like the ducks, all these birds should 
be cooked quickly, and if it were practicable in these 
days, which too often it is not, should be cooked before 
an open fire, whether in what is called a Dutch oven or on 
a spit, or on a broiler. 
Beware of sauces which shall destroy the native flavor 
of the bird. Eschew onions and jellies above all things. 
And above all things see that your birds, whatever they 
are, be served absolutely hot, and that your plates are 
hot. Sage. 
Editor Forest end Stream: 
The best methods of cooking ducks has btc»i prop- 
erly engaging the attention of some of the correspon- 
dents of Forest and Stream of late; and like the public 
discussions of many important questions, this is likely 
to bring out a good many interesting and valuable items 
of information for the benefit of those who are fortu- 
nate enough to acquire the toothsome canvasback or 
mallard, and to be in harmony with those who can 
cook with judgment and discretion after tried and ap- 
proved recipes. Tastes diflFer radically in regard to the 
matter, and there was never a recipe in this world for 
cooking anything, flesh, fish or fowl, that would suit 
everybody — not even terrapin stew. Some people say, 
put no dressing or stuffing into the duck to be roasted, 
some advise putting a small onion into the carcass to 
be roasted with it. One man wants a duck to come to 
the table cooked to the ruddy turn, so that the flesh 
when cut, shall exude blood red juices. His neighbor, 
on the contrary, prefers his bird roasted "a good, 
wholesome brown" all the way through. 
Among other valuable things to be found in one of 
my scrap books, is a clipping from Forest and Stream 
without date, I regret to say, but well back in the '70s, 
i think, which gives a sensible method for cooking can- 
vasback ducks. My cook has tested it and it proved 
up all right, according to my own taste, and those_ of 
my guests who have partaken of it. There is one thing 
that must be remembered in dealing with any formula 
or cooking recipe, that for every ounce of theory you 
must use at least two pounds of common sense. Here 
is the modus operandi that. I have referred to,_ taken 
from the scrap book aforesaid — and this little disserta- 
tion will be made to occupy the space from which the 
clipping came, and I hope that it will occupy a space 
in the kitchen of many a lover of that most satisfying 
delicacy, a well roasted and well served canvasback: 
"To Bake Canvasback Ducks.— Have the duck dry- 
picked, the head left on. No dressing is to be put into 
the bird, except a little pepper and salt. Place the 
duck in the pan on its back; if you care to add a slice 
of dried English bacon, not smoked, do so. Put no 
water in the pan. Your oven must be hot, but not 
enough to burn. Baste the duck frequently while cook- 
ing. About thirty minutes is the allotted time. During 
the last few minutes dredge some flour on the bird and 
quicken the fire, in order to brown the outside. 
"The above are general directions for an ordinary 
range or cook stove; but it is impossible to g-ive the 
exact time that a canvasback duck should remain in the 
oven, as this depends altogether on the size of the oven, 
the condition of the fire, the number of ducks to be 
cooked at the same time, whether the ducks have just 
come off of the ice. etc. You can tell the temperature 
of the oven by holding your hand in it a moment, and 
if you are familiar with your oven you will know just 
what it will accomplish. If you have baked the canvas- 
back as it should be baked, it must have a plump appear- 
ance when taken out of the oven; in color it must be 
a delicate brown. The flesh, when cut into, should 
be moist and .juicy, an4 in color soinewh^t re??— i^o^ 
SPANIELS AS WJLDFOWL SfRINGERS. 
>.Ffl 
ANCIENT SETTER, 
