Wild Duck, Whole

Wild duck are shot from 1 September to 1 February.

Only vaguely comparable to farmed duck, mallard is a classic wild duck with a much more complex flavour, the result of a more active lifestyle and varied diet.

Best cooked on the bone for moisture retention, rested and served medium rare. Like its domestic cousin, mallard loves tart fruit to cut the richness of the meat, be it in the form of a sauce made from blackberry, apple, damson or orange. One duck is perfect for two to share.

The landscape on our doorstep is rich with wild game. As such we work with smaller shoots across the Yorkshire Dales who manage the landscape sympathetically whilst increasing natural biodiversity, something we feel is of paramount importance to both human-managed and natural ecosystems.

Chef Valentine Warner's musings on shooting & cooking wild duck: 
"Wild mallard is the UK’s most common species of duck and certainly one of the prettiest, yet while I always delight in seeing them rise up from the bullrushes or skid onto the weir I also enjoy seeing them upon a plate as yes indeed they are delicious.

So delicious in-fact that I do not care to share them, I often go about the cooking  when I find myself alone. I prepare the table smartly, light a candle, pour a glass of wine and then sit down to carve a whole mallard for myself. So too when hunting duck, I like to be alone or, at most, in the company of one other. Crouched in the failing twilight cupping my hand around my glowing rollie as I wait and I have to be careful. With their excellent eyesight, even circling in from a great height above, should they spot the glowing orange dot and canny as they are they will turn away and settle elsewhere.

Mallards are best eaten at the beginning of the season as if truly wild and not pond-raised. Once the clover and corn of autumn has been eaten up they will take to the shoreline and fill their crops with coastal peckings that can compromise their deliciousness. Winter will often see them moving about more for food hence becoming somewhat tougher. Ducks will need hanging slightly longer once the cold grip of winter tightens over the countryside. They should in most cases be cooked quickly as although waterproof they’re not nearly as fatty as their farmed cousins."

Buy a whole duck online today.