ducking out

In my pre-Christmas stock up, I spied a duck at the butcher and couldn't resist. Succulent, flavoursome duck. It set my mouth to watering so I tucked it in my basket amongst the other goodies, anticipating the delicious treat it would make.

When I got home I selected a tempting recipe of duck with honey roasted potatoes. I coated the duck in orange juice mixed with soy sauce and roasted it for the requisite period of time.

There was just one problem.

It stank! All afternoon the aromas wafted out of the oven and into my twitching nostrils, making me feel very nearly nauseous.

Was this just the normal odour of cooking duck? Was it the soy sauce, the honey, or maybe the cloves of garlic? Worst thought of all, was the duck bad? Had I left it in the fridge too long?

I phoned my mum and asked her to have a sniff if duck usually smells odd during cooking. She wasn't sure, though she confirmed that they are vastly different from chicken and advised me that if it tasted OK, it probably was OK.

No conclusive answers there so shortly thereafter Frank and I tentatively tucked into roast duck with honeyed potatoes. I personally didn't enjoy it much - that smell has put me off duck forever - but Frank munched happily away. He even ate the leftovers the next day.

And here we are, 48 hours post consumption, and no ill effects. Not even a bellyache! Ducks must just smell really bad during cooking.

I think I can safely say that I will never cook duck ever again!