Chances are that by now, you’ve tried the eye-rollingly good side that is duck fat chats. Bathing the potatoes in the duck fat and roasting them until their skin crisps up and turns golden is something of a spud revelation.
That’s because rendered duck fat has a much higher smoke point than butter and other oils, making it perfect for frying, roasting and searing without burning.
Where it really comes into its own is in the flavour stakes. As British food writer Nigel Slater wrote, duck fat has the ability to “enrich whatever is cooking in it… It gets to the soul of the food it is browning”.
Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith and Heston are all fans, as are many French home chefs. So, we've hunted down the other ways to use this prized fat.
Pie crusts
Add a tablespoon or two to your savoury pie dough for an extra short and golden crust. Or, try it in your next beef wellington.
Add a spoonful of duck fat to your pie crust for an extra golden finish. Source: Brett Stevens
For confiting
“The main one we use it for is for cofiting our duck legs for our duck cassoulet,” says Mark Williamson, head chef at Bistro Moncur, Woollahra in Sydney. “It’s a tremendous way to cook meat and vegetables and also to preserve. If you confit meat in duck fat and keep it submerged, it will preserve it for some time.”
Bathe duck legs in their own fat to help it crisp up. (Alan Benson) Source: Supplied
Roast chook
To elevate your humble roast chicken, rub it with duck fat instead of butter and watch the skin render a crackling golden brown.
Duck fat renders the skin of a roast chicken a deep, golden brown Source: The Incredible Spice Men by Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh
Roast vegetables
Don’t stop at potatoes - duck fat is a great match for Mediterranean vegetables like eggplant, capsicum and zucchini, enriching their flavours while offering them a gloss they've never known.
Give veggies a flavour injection with a smear of duck fat. Source: SBS Food
Pickled cabbage
In parts of Germany, adding the fat to pickled cabbage is thought to offer it a whole new depth of flavour. Makes sense!
Pickling cabbage with some duck fat is thought a delicacy in some parts of Germany. Source: Supplied
Flavoured butters
‘Gascony butter’ is named after the region in France where duck fat trumps butter in terms of source of dietary fat. The 'butter' is a mix of rendered duck fat and blanched, crushed garlic cloves, and can be used to flavour soups and cassoulet, or to spread on bread or croutons.
Sirloin steaks with Cafe De Manilla butter Source: Derek Swalwell
On… popcorn?
It's a regular scenario: you step into the cinema starving, but without time to smuggle in dinner. So you fill up on popcorn instead. Well imagine if said popcorn had the lovely appetite-sating (and flavoursome) benefit of a little duck fat? End case.
Some intrepid diners have even flavoured their popcorn with duck fat. Source: Getty Images
And if you can't go past the spud, we've got that, too.
A delicious waxy potato cooked in duck fat is something that I find deeply thrilling. Lots of garlic, white beans for some extra creamy crunch, and an excessive amount of sage make it even better. Get the recipe here.
Have we got your attention and your tastebuds? It’s French week on The Chefs' Line airing 6pm weeknights on SBS. Check out the program page for episode guides, cuisine lowdowns, recipes and more.
