Out for a Duck

I don’t pretend to be a food critic, nor am I an expert in duck cuisine, but over the past three weeks I have sampled six of the nine dishes on offer at Martinborough cafes and restaurants and have enjoyed every one. My apologies for failing to sample the remaining dishes but there is a limit to the amount of duck one stomach can manage in the space of three weeks!
There was variety, lots of it. Duck ravioli and an unexpected vegetable called witloof which was stunning with duck and apple were both enjoyed at lunchtime in the glorious Martinborough summer. Evening offerings included roast duck with beetroot and lentils, duck leg confit with parsnip puree and kumara gratin, duck confit with roast vegetables, and a classical southern French canard cassoulet for two to share. All were matched with an appropriate Martinborough wine.

I enjoyed talking with Vincent Boudet, chef at Peppers Parehua, who has only recently come to live and work in Martinborough. He was clearly intrigued by the idea of a promotion such as this, but a little bewildered by the difficulty of acquiring the key ingredient. “I was brought up on duck” he said, and was surprised that it is not a common menu item here, nor do we have a wide variety of types of duck. Perhaps Vincent can introduce a new range of fowl for our tables.

Quite apart from savouring these duck delicacies, my even greater appreciation was for the idea and its execution. We do good food in this village of ours – very good food – and there is no shortage of choice. What’s more, our local chefs don’t rest on their laurels with an unchanging menu (although I still find it hard to go past a certain salt and pepper squid that is superb every time). They create new and exciting dishes and enthusiastically engage with promotions such as Out for a Duck.
By the time this goes to print New Zealand may, or may not, have won the Cricket World Cup. Either way, both visitors to Martinborough and those of us fortunate enough to live here will have had some fine innings with duck.