DUUUUUUUCCCKKK FFFFFFFFFAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

08Mar10

 

Ah yes. On Saturday night I became the proud owner of one beautiful 7 oz. container of D’Artagnan rendered duck fat. There I was, minding my own business, walking through the halls of my local food market (City Market to be exact) when I spotted something of pure unadulterated splendor: packaged duck fat. Never before had I seen duck fat for sale in the dairy isle, and the second I picked up the container I thought about popping the top and eating it straight, right then and there. Quite simply, the label reads “D’Artagnan Rendered Duck Fat: Better than Butter”. Sold!

Duck fat. The fat of champions. The most gourmet of gourmet cooking oils. There are so many things that I love which are made with duck fat: duck confit (currently my favorite entrée), frites (French fries) fried in duck fat (see my post about Montreal), potatoes roasted in duck fat, sautéed asparagus in duck fat, the list could go on forever. Basically, if you add “in duck fat” to the end of any sentence, the chances are I will find it 300 times more appetizing—inanimate objects not excluded. Maybe even the greatest fact about duck fat is not that it makes virtually anything taste better, though additionally it is one of the healthiest cooking oils to work with. As referenced below, duck fat provides all the taste of butter (only BETTER!) with the nutritional value of olive oil—astounding!

“…what many are unaware of is the health benefits to duck fat. Duck fat contains 35.7% saturates, 50.5% monounsaturates (high in linoleic acid) and 13.7% polyunsaturated fats.(Which contains Omega-6 and Omega-3 essential oils). This compares to olive oil which is: 75% monounsaturated fat (mostly oleic acid) 13% saturated fat and 10% Omega-6 linoleic acid and 2% Omega-3 linoleic acid. The main difference between chicken, turkey and duck is that duck contains more linoleic acid, which chicken and turkey contain a higher amount of polyunsaturated fats. It appears that duck and goose fat is more like olive oil than it is like butter or beef.” — http://greenmarketrecipes.com/poultry/health_benefits_duck_fat.htm

Since making the purchase I think I have used duck fat in every meal that I’ve made for myself–eggs, toast, chicken cutlets, spinach, pasta–it’s deliciousness can be transferred onto anything. And on the even brighter side, it’s only a matter of time before my first heart attack. I’ll keep you posted…

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Tags: duck confit, duck fat, french cuisine, frites