Duck Scratchings

One of my jobs at the restaurant is to contribute ideas which, after some tinkering, could end up as viable, tasty dishes on the tapas menu. One day, I was watching head chef prepping duck legs for service, trimming off the excess skin and fat, when it occurred to me: duck scratchings! Just like pork scratchings, except more ducky! Crisp, puffy duck skins, roasted in the oven, dusted with salt and served as a tapa with beer - how unique! No one else in the world could possibly have come up with such an awesome idea!

68,203 results on Google proved me wrong.

No matter. It was still worth pursuing.

Just to see what I should be doing, I popped into the British food section of my local supermarket, which happens to stock pork scratchings - the template for my idea. I bought two different brands (one's actually made in New Zealand!), and tipped them out to see how they looked and tasted.

While both were pleasantly porky and salty, the British-made product was quite hard, and the NZ-made scratchings crunchy - crunch is what I was after, and I figured cooking my duck skins at a moderate heat for about half an hour should do it.

Turn your oven on to 180c, and pop a tray inside to warm up. Using a good sharp knife, cut your duck skin into finger-width-and-length strips.

Place your duck skins onto the heated tray (line it with baking paper; I forgot), sprinkle generously with maldon or sea salt, then place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. They will shrink in size quite considerably, so don't be alarmed. You'll also end up with a surprising amount of rendered duck fat.

Pass the fat through some muslin (to keep out debris) and into a container. Cool it down, cover and pop in the fridge; use it later when roasting spuds to make them more flavoursome.

Place the scratchings on a paper towel to drain. Allow to cool, during which time they'll harden.

Did they make it onto the menu? No. While they are quite tasty (lots of roast duck flavour, pleasantly salty), they still retain a little fat which may turn people off (that, and the salt). Longer cooking may remedy this, but to the detriment of the skin's flavour, I feel. No worries! It was an interesting experiment, and a neat way of using up waste product. The next time you're preparing duck at home, give this a go - duck skin is far tastier than, say, chicken skin (which you're supposed to remove for a healthier meal), and a real treat. Tell me how you get on :)