We had Mck round for dinner on Saturday, so it was off to Wimbledon Park Farmers' Market in the morning. Unpastuerised milk, rhubarb crumble shortbread and an Aylesbury duck were the highlight purchases.
The flavour of the Aylesbury was more subtle than anything I've had before. The meat was so succulent. Lovely.
The process of roasting the rare breed birdy was not exactly what I expected. At first there was the normal gush of duck fat in the roasting tin. After about an hour and a half it stopped though, almost completely. I was expecting the usual fat festival but it was not to be.
The three of us made short work of the carcass. It was crispy skin galore (the duck not us) and top notch, lightly gamey meat. Some Oregon Pinot Noir (thanks Owen) and our last bottle of Rochiolli provided the liquid refreshment.
Eating the Aylesbury brought it home to me how much meat has been messed around with. 'kind of like most things left purely in the hands of market forces really.
We bought our Aylesbury Duck from Manor Farm Game. They are supplied by Richard Waller's farm. He is, I think, the only remaining breeder of them in the UK.
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