I was rather looking forward to barbecued duck – however, the bird, once cooked and served, was a little underwhelming. This is in fact almost my usual experience with duck: I rarely have it, look forward to it, finally get around to having it, and then feel disappointed. A few restaurant meals of yester-year spring to mind also.
Sometimes, preparing a certain foodstuff yourself is not worth the effort. Yes, home-baked bread is marvellous, home-made pasta divine; but who has the time? I certainly don't, nor have the skills nor any great success in so doing. Unlike a good straightforward lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, pork or ham roast, I think roast or other duck is a bit beyond me – I'm no master chef.
(Also, nearly twenty dollars for a 1.9 kg frozen duck – the only way it can be bought locally – is rather steep; just as I saw some wild rabbits for sale at the local providore, but they were just as dear. I'd rather go and do as I do each Saturday for that money or a little more: enjoy coffee and a spot of breakfast while reading The Australian in a cafe.)
However, as all men know, two great nations and cuisines do duck well: those of the French and the Chinese. The duck confit at the Cafe Serpente next to Chartres Cathedral was excellent; and so, always, is Chinese duck, BBQ or otherwise. French-style duck cannot around here be bought as takeaway, whereas Chinese-style duck can. Rather than prepare it myself, then, it will be a case of, next time, Chinese.
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