Honey and Coriander Roasted Nile Duck
A duck lacquered with honey and perfumed with coriander, roasted until the skin crackles under the tooth. Melting flesh, amber glaze, a golden note worthy of a pharaoh's feast table.
A duck lacquered with honey and perfumed with coriander, roasted until the skin crackles under the tooth. Melting flesh, amber glaze, a golden note worthy of a pharaoh's feast table.
When I presided over the banquet, wearing the double crown, they brought before me the duck of the marshes, the one my hunters had caught in the net among the papyrus. They rubbed it with honey and fragrant seeds, then turned it over the coals until its skin shone like the gold of my cartouche. Eat it with your fingers, lick the dripping honey: such is the feast that Ra grants to those he loves, and no guest ever left my table with an empty belly.
- •Plucked and gutted wild Nile duck — one whole bird (centerpiece)
- •Honey — by the ladle (glaze)
- •Crushed coriander seeds — a handful (fragrance)
- •Cumin and salt — to taste (seasoning)
- •Onion and figs — a few (inner garnish)
Honey and Coriander Roasted Nile Duck
A duck lacquered with honey and perfumed with coriander, roasted until the skin crackles under the tooth. Melting flesh, amber glaze, a golden note worthy of a pharaoh's feast table.
Why this dish? Crowned after Tutankhamun, Ay sat at royal banquets where Delta waterfowl reigned. Duck, hunted with nets and throw sticks in the papyrus marshes, featured on all festive tables of the 18th Dynasty and in banquet scenes painted in Theban tombs.
When I presided over the banquet, wearing the double crown, they brought before me the duck of the marshes, the one my hunters had caught in the net among the papyrus. They rubbed it with honey and fragrant seeds, then turned it over the coals until its skin shone like the gold of my cartouche. Eat it with your fingers, lick the dripping honey: such is the feast that Ra grants to those he loves, and no guest ever left my table with an empty belly.
Ingredients (period version)
- Plucked and gutted wild Nile duck — one whole bird (centerpiece)
- Honey — by the ladle (glaze)
- Crushed coriander seeds — a handful (fragrance)
- Cumin and salt — to taste (seasoning)
- Onion and figs — a few (inner garnish)
Ingredients
- Whole duck (about 2 kg) — 1
- Honey — 4 tbsp
- Coriander seeds — 2 tsp
- Ground cumin — 1 tsp
- Salt — 2 tsp
- Onion + 4 dried figs — for stuffing
Method
- Crush the coriander seeds in a mortar with the cumin and salt. Rub the duck inside and out with this mixture.
- Place the onion cut into quarters and the dried figs inside the cavity.
- Place the duck on a rack over a dish (to catch the fat) and roast at 180 °C for 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm the honey. Brush the duck every 15 minutes during the last 45 minutes to form an amber glaze.
- Increase to 210 °C for the last 10 minutes to lacquer and crisp the skin. Let rest 10 minutes before carving.
How it was made : Waterfowl hunting was both an aristocratic sport and a food-gathering activity: birds were driven into huge nets, a scene depicted a thousand times on tomb walls. Poultry was roasted on spits over coals or boiled; honey, a precious commodity harvested by royal beekeepers, was used to glaze meats for great occasions. If duck was unavailable, goose, the bird of Amun, was prepared in the same way.
The contemporary twist : Serve the duck on a bed of young greens and fresh fig quarters, sprinkled with toasted coriander seeds — a honey-and-gold plate evoking the royal cartouche.
Sources : Hilary Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, Shire Egyptology, 1988 · Pierre Tallet, La cuisine des pharaons, Actes Sud, 2015
Ay · Charactorium