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rivetcityransom t1_j432orf wrote

That's because it is a red meat, and needs to be treated as such when you're cooking it. Most people who don't like duck have probably had it overcooked, which really changes the flavor and texture. Seared duck breast should be cooked medium rare to medium at most. Duck also benefits quite a lot from aging, like other red meats.

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DivePalau t1_j44d2y5 wrote

I love Duck Confit. I don’t know what it means or what they do to it. I just know it’s amazing.

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tyvanius t1_j44g9yo wrote

Confit is a technique where the food is cooked in its own fat. So duck confit is roasted with a healthy heap of duck fat added in. Basically, anytime you see confit on a menu, it will be the richest, most buttery entree available.

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kachuck t1_j44ldz0 wrote

Duck fat is also known as liquid gold. For a good reason too

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SunlitNight t1_j451gi2 wrote

What reason Is that?

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Reddit-Answered t1_j45950f wrote

Duck fat is often referred to as "liquid gold" because of its rich, delicious taste and its versatility in cooking. It is a prized ingredient in many traditional French and other European cuisines, and is used for frying, sautéing, and roasting. Its high smoke point of about 375°F means it can be used for high-heat cooking methods without breaking down and creating harmful smoke compounds. Duck fat also contains a higher proportion of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats than goose or pork fats, which are considered to be healthier fats. Additionally, its rich flavor is considered by many chefs and food enthusiasts to be superior to other types of fats, which is why it is often referred to as "liquid gold."

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Craw__ t1_j44tv0b wrote

Not necessarily it's own fat. Slow cooked in liquid, usually fat or oil though.

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johnnycakeAK t1_j44wabp wrote

Duck Confit is accurately only done by cooking it at low temp in duck fat. Using any other liquid or oil would be poached

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Craw__ t1_j4554yu wrote

I'm referring to confit as a cooking technique, not specifically duck confit.

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boblinquist t1_j46bnhz wrote

This is not true. Confit is as much a preservation technique as anything, although that's not as vital as a requirement these days. Confit comes from the French verb confire, which literally means to preserve. You can't just call anything slow-cooked in a liquid confit.

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glacierre2 t1_j46y90i wrote

Confitura is an alternative word for marmalade in Spanish.

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boblinquist t1_j47iynn wrote

Yep, which is how they used to preserve the oranges! Just slow cook in sugar syrup. It's amazing how much cooking we do came about due to a lack of fresh ingredients

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[deleted] t1_j452p1n wrote

A crucial part of duck confit is to heavily salt (with herbs and other seasonings) it the day before you confit it. The salt draws out the moisture and allows the duck to cook properly.

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StuiWooi t1_j47kuw1 wrote

I always thought it was submerged in a given fat/oil but kept below boiling, it's never crispy

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rivetcityransom t1_j44lxp3 wrote

Agreed! Basically it's duck legs that are slow-cooked in duck fat, then sealed in a container with more duck fat poured over them. It's a really old way of preserving meat that also happens to be delicious!

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notdancingQueen t1_j45l9gp wrote

And then you take them out of the can, swipe the fat in a pan, put the legs in the oven (I love when the skin gets a bit crunchy)... And sautée/broil/otherwise fry some diced potatoes in the fat meanwhile.

Serve duck+potatoes with some green salad with vinaigrette seasoning as a side. Simple and way tastier than chicken or steak.

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No_Flounder_9859 t1_j43wit8 wrote

It’s Heaven on earth as well. If seared duck breast is on the menu, that’s what I’m getting

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zelcuh t1_j44r956 wrote

I JUST got it down myself. I love me for learning how to do it properly.

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naking t1_j46pttq wrote

What is your method? Do you have a link or did you just perfect it through experimentation?

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TooSubtle t1_j456pjm wrote

I've been vegetarian for... Three years now? Duck and fish sauce are the only two things I miss. I have a mental list of animals I'd be okay murdering to survive in a desert-island type scenario and duck is by far the top choice.

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SisyphusRocks7 t1_j457p2n wrote

If it helps, male ducks are horribly misogynistic rapists with torture implements for penises. They pretty much all deserve to be eaten with hoisin sauce.

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TooSubtle t1_j45k51b wrote

Yeah, that's part of the reason they're number 1. It's the confluence of tastiness and personality that defines the list. Goats and geese are second and third.

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-doughboy t1_j456pou wrote

Same here, I almost get annoyed with myself for it, but if duck is on a menu it's like a 95% chance I'm ordering it

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AlwaysHere202 t1_j4541en wrote

My friend is a duck hunter, and keeps just giving me duck breast!

Yesterday, I made seared duck with a peach chutney glaze. Yes, medium rare.

Probably one of the better meals I've had in a bit.

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rivetcityransom t1_j482oc9 wrote

Duck and fruit go so well together! One of my favorite sauces for roast duck is a spicy apricot jam that my wife makes, it makes a delicious glaze for roast birds!

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caessa_ t1_j4605ea wrote

Many Asian-style duck dishes (Peking duck, roast bbq duck, etc) are cooked well-done and are delicious so I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s only one way to prep it.

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rivetcityransom t1_j482fom wrote

Definitely not the only way, it's just like beef in that once it goes beyond medium or so it will eventually come back around to tender and moist, it just requires some careful cooking!

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gramathy t1_j46w1kk wrote

Does it benefit from slow cooking via sous vide to get the doneness right?

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rivetcityransom t1_j483tvx wrote

I've heard of people cooking it sits sous vide and loving it, I've never tried it myself but I'd like to!

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_j442mxd wrote

But it still needs to reach a full 75c temperature to be safe to eat, like other poultry and unlike beef.

edit: Let me dumb it down: Duck has the same safety requirement and risks as other poultry when it comes to cooking temperatures.

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gearpitch t1_j44hef4 wrote

75c isn't even true for other poultry. That's just the temp that bacteria all die instantly. If you hold a lower temperature longer it still is safe. For example, white chicken meat should be held at 65c for three minutes to be juicy and safe, or 63c for 8.5 minutes, or 68c for 1 minute. It's why chicken and Turkey are often seen as dry and tough, because the thermometer said 75c, the meat was pulled out to rest and the internal temp kept rising for a few minutes after.

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RobertoHAHA t1_j44pyun wrote

I love you for explaining this. This is the number 1 cooking tip I give people.

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goldef t1_j44y21a wrote

This is why I love sous vide. I cook chicken at 145F for 3 hours and it's tender and moist.

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rivetcityransom t1_j447m22 wrote

Possibly, but you'll have a well-done duck if you go to that temp. All the ducks that I eat are wild and don't have the same salmonella concerns that domestic poultry has so I'm totally comfortable eating them rare.

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danteheehaw t1_j45x1ad wrote

Pretty much every bird has salmonella. It's part of their normal flora. It's the butchering process that contaminates the meat. Good thing about wild duck is usually its not flying through a dessembly line of employees who really don't give a fuck.

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boblinquist t1_j44iw0a wrote

Exactly, as long as you have good quality fresh produce you shouldn’t have to worry about keeping to such standards.

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vandogguy t1_j42zqtq wrote

But not by tickborne red meat allergy. Checkmate, Alpha-GAL Syndrome

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TummyDrums t1_j43hnx7 wrote

We've got lots of lone star ticks where I'm at. I'll have to remember that if I ever catch alpha-gal.

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mustang19rasco t1_j44lfmb wrote

It's crazy how common this is getting. Or at least known.

I've had it for 10+ years. I enjoy not having to explain myself as often as I use to.

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krzysd t1_j438o24 wrote

Restaurant near me makes a duck breast that is OH SO GOOD, when i first asked for it they said "it's cooked mid rare, is that ok?" never knew you could cook duck mid rare. damn my mouth is watering from thinking about it.

From Restaurant website "THYME & SEA SALT MARINATED MAPLE LEAF FARM DUCK BREAST, BLUEBERRY RELISH, BLUEBERRY GASTRIQUE, FRIED BRUSSELS SPROUT LEAVES, HONEY GOLD POTATO"

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kingswing23 t1_j43vgps wrote

A well made duck is one of the most delicious things you can have. Damn you got my mouth watering too.

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BrokenEye3 t1_j43mo5e wrote

What's a gastrique?

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g0ing_postal t1_j43qehb wrote

At its core, a gastrique is a sweet and sour sauce. Usually the sugar source is caramelized to give some extra depth.

The components that actually make it sweet and sour can vary, so it might use fruit, caramel, wine, vinegar, etc

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Reddit-Answered t1_j459eaq wrote

>gastrique

A gastrique is a type of sweet and sour sauce made by reducing sugar and vinegar together, and it is commonly used to add a touch of acidity and sweetness to savory dishes. Some examples of dishes that use gastrique as an ingredient include:

Duck breast with cherry gastrique: This dish features seared duck breast served with a sauce made from reduced cherry juice and red wine vinegar.

Pan-seared scallops with grapefruit gastrique: This dish features scallops seared in butter and served with a sauce made from reduced grapefruit juice and white wine vinegar.

Pork tenderloin with apple gastrique: This dish features pork tenderloin roasted and served with a sauce made from reduced apple juice and apple cider vinegar.

Beef tenderloin with balsamic gastrique: This dish features grilled beef tenderloin served with a sauce made from reduced balsamic vinegar and sugar.

Vegetables with Caramelized Onion Gastrique: This dish features roasted vegetables with a sauce made from caramelized onions and red wine vinegar.

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[deleted] t1_j453jvo wrote

It generally a sauce made from vinegar and sugar will likely have other ingredients added to it. Blueberry gastrique is a very common sauce to serve with duck. I like to make it with blueberries, red wine vinegar, white sugar, brandy, shallots and duck stock.

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CommunistCowboy1939 t1_j44hulj wrote

That sounds fucking insane. Wish I could find duck breast near me 😩. I had some at an Italian place over the holidays and it was not done well. Gave me like 5 small slices with unrendered fat, and two tiny slices of zucchini. Was like 30 bucks too.

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ickychicken t1_j45q31e wrote

I lucked out over the holidays, and for some insane reason, our local Walmart in the sticks had two frozen roasted half ducks from Maple Leaf Farms for ~$10. I bought one since it was my first time trying it, loved it so much, went back for the second one the next day. If you check the vendor website, you can see what stores may carry their duck products near you. I was surprised one of our other local grocery stores carried their raw frozen duck breast in the meat section.

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zelcuh t1_j44rfbh wrote

Fancy. I make mine with simpler blueberry sauce. I'm give the rest a try 1 day

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RandoCalrissian11 t1_j435iy8 wrote

So is dove, and every other bird that gets oxygen while flapping its wings in flight.

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stevenmoreso t1_j43bnaz wrote

This is a little confusing. Do you just mean birds that fly?

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DrunkenFailer t1_j43h6p6 wrote

Yes, chickens and turkeys don't really fly so their breast muscle doesn't get used. That's why the breast is white meat and the leg quarter (while not considered "red meat") is dark meat with a different flavor, texture and fat content.

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CapedBaldyman t1_j44qve1 wrote

let's talk about muscles. this will be a vastly oversimplification but muscles are either "red" or "white" and that has to do with how much myoglobin (oxygen carrying molecule stored in muscles) they have. Red muscles are great for low impact but high endurance use - think marathoning at a steady pace whereas white muscle are fast twitch, very explosive, but piss poor endurance. A perfect example of this is a crocodile. If you look at a picture of a croc you'll generally see some big bulbous muscles at the base of the lower jaw - these are HUGE white muscles that bring the top of the croc's jaw crashing down with tremendous force and speed. HOWEVER, the strength of the bite reduces dramatically dropping as much as 50% within the 1st few seconds. If you compare it to the muscles that hold a croc's top jaw up, they are these two tiny muscle bands that can stay open for a very long time and that's because they're almost purple they're so oxygenated.

This is why the other folks are talking about oxygen for turkeys and chickens.

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RandoCalrissian11 t1_j43kybl wrote

Not quite. Turkeys fly, just not very well. They don’t get oxygen when moving their wings so the meat is very white. Same with chickens.

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MrMcSwifty t1_j44h97r wrote

> Turkeys fly, just not very well.

Wild turkeys, sure, but as far as I'm aware, domestic turkeys are way too fat to fly really at all, which is indeed why their breast meat is white instead of "red."

On that note, I've often heard people say wild turkey meat is garbage compared to farm raised, which now makes me wonder if that's actually because they are just over-cooking it to domestic white meat turkey temps!

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Mmcx125 t1_j4531mh wrote

Could well be diet, the wild turkeys around me regularly eat actual garbage.

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RandoCalrissian11 t1_j45t7gu wrote

Wild Turkey is much better than domestic. Having eaten a lot of it, I don’t even see a comparison. It’s very white meat also. Has nothing to do with domestication, it’s how the blood circulates.

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thisischemistry t1_j46reri wrote

> I've often heard people say wild turkey meat is garbage compared to farm raised

Wild turkey has a "gamey" flavor which many people associate with it being "off" and not as good. Farm-raised has a "cleaner" flavor, more like farm-raised chicken. Some people like the wild flavor, some people like the domesticated flavor.

It's similar to the differences between venison and beef or mutton and lamb. Both venison and mutton have a ton of flavor but some people don't like that flavor, they prefer the lighter flavors of farm-raised beef or lamb.

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randomcharacters3 t1_j43fpy0 wrote

Steak of the sky.

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Crumbdizzle t1_j43kh11 wrote

Ribeye of the Sky is a Sandhill Crane

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fvgh12345 t1_j44jcm5 wrote

They need to open a season on those bastards by me. Them and swans constantly tease you coming in close to the blind. They know they're safe and they gloat

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timtimtimmyjim t1_j459ehr wrote

Where do you live that they don't? I believe in colorado you just have to call a number after you buy a small game license and declare your intent to hunt migratory bird and what hunting area you are in.

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fvgh12345 t1_j46lfkz wrote

Good ol' Michigan, we can't hunt doves either. They have remits for culling them on farms some people can get if crops are being damaged but apparently you aren't supposed to harvest them

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timtimtimmyjim t1_j4eqiay wrote

What a waste to not harvest culled animals.

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fvgh12345 t1_j4hpy82 wrote

It really is. I'm not %100 on it but thats what ive heard. I know the same rule applies when they allow permits for culling seagulls but that makes a bit more sense because I know i wouldn't want to eat a seagull.

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timtimtimmyjim t1_j4hu319 wrote

Especially oned living off all the garbage in the great lakes. Yeah no thanks on that. Usually in the towns when the cull geese I Corrado they usually give the meat to homeless shelters or zoos.

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rivetcityransom t1_j4834ao wrote

Where I live you have to draw a special permit and can only harvest one a year, while in Canada you can shoot 8 a day and Texas has a pretty high daily limit also. I guess at either end of the flyway is the best place to hunt them.

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herbw t1_j462rrs wrote

The pathetic fallacy, Imbuing animals with human characteristics. The Pathetic fallacy. so close to polytheisms. So far from the facts and God.

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fvgh12345 t1_j46l281 wrote

If I responded how I want to respond to you I'd probably get banned.

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herbw t1_j461mfp wrote

Both sandhill and whooping cranes are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918. This law strictly prohibits the capture, killing, or possession of sandhill and whooping cranes without proper permits.

Sandhill Cranes have been found as far north as Alaska & Siberia.

Saw flock of those over downtown, riding then rising . First 100' above the sky scrapers. Then more, then higher circling endlessly, easy riding air currents higher and higher. Till just out of sight. then gone.

The birds were using thermals to least energy gain altitude then fly further from the height gains. Long before humans, just recently made gliders.

They been flying the thermals for millions of years before we ever knew about those. They are LD fliers and knew instinctively how to make use of thermals before humans ever existed.

Majesticly rising higher and higher, efficiently low wind resistance for at least 2 hrs., then on to the next city thermals further north.

Riding the solar powered winds city to city, Transcontinentally.

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[deleted] t1_j448420 wrote

[deleted]

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Kuris t1_j44ejkd wrote

Second only to bacon fat! (NOT pork lard! The rendered fat of smoked, cured, pork belly.)

Hard to get enough of either though unless you work in a restaurant or order it specifically.

.... God, now I miss eating roasted duck liver and heart.

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[deleted] t1_j44za80 wrote

[deleted]

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sonorguy t1_j457d88 wrote

Duck fat makes a perfect crust on steak

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herbw t1_j4604zj wrote

Do yer cooks actually understand why duck is so high in fat? Sugars about 6 cal./cc. Protein about 4; fats upwards of about 8 cal./gm. Duck can fly long distances due to high calorie fats.

Fat is very much less dense than water. And critter that floats on water will not sink, BUT rather float on water. When is the last time you saw a chicken fat blob sink in water? Never. A water bird full of water, weighs more. Full of fat weighs far less than water/cc., and thus can fly more and with less wing beats. Fat is light and full of calories.

That's the physics and nutritional facts about duck.

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Sometimes_Stutters t1_j43mqyj wrote

Wild goose is the same. It looks like beef, and kinda tastes like beef.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j447h65 wrote

I always thought it looked like liver when cooked. (Canada goose.)

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MadFxMedia t1_j44qtdm wrote

Where I live, there's a thousand Canadian geese all around us all the time but we can't do anything about them because it's illegal to kill them.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j44yus3 wrote

Huh. Here in many parts of the US, so-called "non-migratory" Canada geese (meaning that part of the population that takes up permanent residence) are considered pests and they have special hunting seasons to reduce their numbers. They'll do a number on a pond and the grass that surrounds it...it's like trying to walk on a greased floor.

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MrMcSwifty t1_j44i2wz wrote

Wait til you find out about ostrich meat!

It is quite literally like a very lean but very tender steak.

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herbw t1_j45zbhh wrote

Bird steak but not beef nor pork loin.

Emus are birds. Pigs are mammals. Beef and horses are related. Whale meat and porpoise are not fish.

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CourtOrderedPoster t1_j44ttma wrote

There was an episode of No Reservations where Tony Bourdain was in the Ozarks duck hunting and he cooked a fancy duck dinner for the guys afterwards and their gratitude was one of the best moments in the series for me.

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helmvoncanzis t1_j44zq3n wrote

The definition depends on what authority is doing the defining. For example, according to the USDA, all animal-based protein that isn't seafood is red meat.

This is important because when your doctor tells you to cut out red meat, they are not necessarily using the culinary or gastronomic definitions of 'red meat'.

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herbw t1_j45yrry wrote

USDA is not biology. Biology rules. If the FDA says that something is not a food that's not good science. No gov agency can long act outside of natural events in existence.

If they do it too wrong, people can get hurt.

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Fetlocks_Glistening t1_j431c42 wrote

And was declared a "melancholy" meat by Dr. Maturin. I'm sure Patrick O'Brian had good 18th century authority to support that statement, but unfortunately I've not been able to find any.

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Robbotlove t1_j43307u wrote

looks like it's being served on a couch.

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ElvisHimselvis t1_j45a5jx wrote

Watermelon is a vegetable. When dropped, it becomes squash.

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herbw t1_j45ym10 wrote

How's yer squash? You know his big ugly roundish thing with fur, above his neck?

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ghostoutlaw t1_j45o8sx wrote

Isn’t most meat red meat with the exception of chicken and turkey? Fish being fish, aka a vegetable.

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herbw t1_j45yi0l wrote

When fish photosynthesis and grow chloroplasts, which will not happen. Vegetables are green plants. Shrooms are fungi.

don't go mixin yer plant and animal families.

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Mindless_Archer_6410 t1_j44w6ka wrote

TIL duck meat is considered something else other than red meat?

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herbw t1_j45yy5e wrote

Standards rule. Those must be biological based with foods. Anything else risks silliness and mistakes.

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bomdia10 t1_j44zetu wrote

You can cook eat it med rare which surprised tf out of me the first time I heard it

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reason2listen t1_j439ks0 wrote

Can’t wait to try some duck tartare!

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qb1120 t1_j43iau5 wrote

I don't care, I just call it "delicious"

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bingold49 t1_j4417o0 wrote

Also delicious by culinary standards

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_HeXagon_ t1_j45lzg6 wrote

Can we talk about how it looks like it’s plated on a fabric of some sort?

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phlex77 t1_j45sum8 wrote

So is pork,,,,, that one confused me

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herbw t1_j45y7y0 wrote

Pork is mammalian. Its akin to mammals. So is horsemeat, elephant and so forth. Snake is reptile, bird is fowl. Fish is dependent upon species, and fresh water or sea.

It's biology that determines muscle meat, not how yer cook it.

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MuchOutlandishness25 t1_j45vjzt wrote

Not for my brother who is deathly allergic to white meat - chicken, duck, crocodile, fish, shellfish, quail, and a few other more exotic meats. Hes had reactions to eating roast potato's cooked in duck fat.

Mmm duck fat potato's.

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herbw t1_j45xzt6 wrote

Biologically , duck is not specific as to species or family; Yer terms are not defined. Biologically is a fowl not beef or pork. but more like chicken.

They can call it whatever they want but biology is primary and the arts are not.

Duck is bird meat, like chicken, Quail, pheasant, etc. It's not mammal meat.

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sorrygirl818 t1_j47kgvd wrote

doesn't it have to do with whether or not a bird flies that makes it poultry? like chickens, cornish hens, and turkeys, but not duck, quail, or squab (pigeon).

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caulpain t1_j47og68 wrote

this sort of nomenclature gap happens a lot with food. the people that are preparing the food categorize it differently than those that are eating it because of the slightly different areas of focus. chefs will often refer to eggs as “dairy” items because traditionally a dairy farm is where one would purchase eggs, but the term is commonly used by medical personnel and their patients for describing cow milk and all other derivative products that are eventually made with cow milk in it. so a person who is lactose intolerant may say “i cant have dairy” and a ‘classically’ (see: french) trained chef will automatically assume they cant have mayonnaise or anything else with egg in it. source: me, a waiter in california for 14 years.

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MagnifyingLens t1_j47pq4c wrote

Magret of duck, seared breast of foie gras duck, is incredible.

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Captcha_Imagination t1_j47spca wrote

It has to do with fast twitch vs slow twitch muscle fibers.

Chickens are sprinters in the flight sense. They can only get themselves up in the air and back down. That's fast twitch and it's white meat.

Cows are slow AF. That's slow twitch and it's red meat.

Duck are migratory birds (i.e. flying marathons) so their have slow twitch and it's red meat.

Humans are about 2/3rds slow twitch and 1/3rd fast twitch.

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ridsama t1_j44ulka wrote

People with gout are advised to avoid red meat (and shellfish), including beef and duck. So yes it's red meat.

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herbw t1_j45z573 wrote

Gout does not define biology. Quite the reverse. The ability to clear DNA giving uric acid build up (gout) is not relevant. Gout does not define foods. The origins of edible foods does that.

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