Makes: 12 portions. Cooking time: 2 hours including sauce. Oven temperature: 220°C. Temperature at center of legs: 80°C.
Ingredients:
— 4 x 2 kg pot roasted duckling
— ½ dl vinegar
— 50 grams sugar
— 3 juice of oranges
— 30 grams butter
— 3 orange peel cut into fine strips and blenched for 5 minutes, flesh cut into segments
Method:
(1) Place the sugar and sufficient water to dissolve it into a saucepan. Boil and reduce until a light caramel (i.e. resembles a toffee-like mixture).
(2) Add vinegar to stop the caramel darkening further. Reduce by half and then add the orange juice.
(3) Add the strained sauce made from the jus lié and pot roasted vegetables and sediment. Gently simmer for 5 minutes and skim any impurities that may surface. Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan, season to taste and add the blanched strips of orange. Complete with knobs of butter.
(4) Carve the duck into portions. Serve neatly arranged on a fiat oval dish, coated with the orange sauce. Garnish each portion with segments of orange.
Note:
If the sauce is bitter in flavor, this can be rectified by adding a further reduction of vinegar and sugar.
Assessment of the completed dish
(1) The portions of duckling should be arranged to follow the shape of the dish and should be coated with the sauce. Three segments of orange as a garnish should be neatly placed on each portion in a pattern to improve the appearance.
(2) The duckling should be moist and trimmed of all excess skin, bone and sinew. If the legs are to be served as part of the portion then the bone should be removed; no splintered bones should be served. If the breast is to be served it should be trimmed, leaving only a small bone at the wing end; all excess bone and gristle to be found on the underside should be removed.
(3) If the sauce is removed from the surface of the duckling the skin underneath should be soft and moist and lightly colored.
(4) The sauce should be a rich dark brown in color with a definite sheen and should have sufficient consistency to cover the pieces of duckling. There should be no trace of bitterness yet it should not be oversweet. There should be a definite taste of orange and the strips of orange peel should be soft but unbroken, without pith and of an even length.
(5) The garnish of orange segments should be cleanly cut and free of pips and all traces of pith.