doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What is for dinner?

"I pick my battles very carefully."

Ted:

You are a very wise man.

Rem

I have not eaten a lot of different varieties of duck, but of those I have, Woodies & Redheads were my favorites. Never had the opportunity to try a Canvasback though I always heard they were fine eating.

Do not have much experience with geese either. I shot a young Blue once which ate mighty good. Only other geese I have eaten were Canadas. To my taste that Blue was far above the Canadians.

My experience with taste of ducks and geese is that it depends mostly on what the birds are eating---same as milk coming from cows that fed in salt marshes.

Ducks I've had to throw out because they stunk up the house at other times came out of the pan tasting like grouse and pheasants.

I've eaten truly wonderful sea ducks, scoters and eiders, cooked by our fishing-village relatives in wood-stove ovens but couldn't replicate their results.

I sat in their kitchens, notebook in hand, recorded times and temperatures, basting and vegetables, but couldn't make their magic on an electric stove.

No matter how many times I tried.

REALLY enjoyed this thread, fellows--thank you!

That pot of Paella looks to die for. We make it in a big Lodge iron skillet, but, I want a paella pot, and an ounce or two of fresh saffron in my house before I die.

Best,
Ted

Saffron really adds to the paella, IMO.

Sago pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus)tubers are what give
Canvasbacks their unique nutty flavor. That is why they sold for ten times the price of Mallards in the market hunting days. The plant is also a staple of Tundra Swans, and when they are feeding American Wigeon are usually there to eat the scraps. The tubers are like thin potatoes about 3/4" long and the birds dig them from the bottom soils. Canvasback hunting is almost a thing of the past around here, as the high water levels have destroyed the sago beds. Ditto with wigeongrass (Ruppia), another favorite food of migrant waterfowl.

The best Chicken Biriyani I ever had was in Singapore where I lived for a couple of years 1973-75 is a backwater area on the western end of the Island. There was an old Tamil who always wore a doti, with a stall in a makeshift food court, who made up a huge pot of biriyani every morning. It was amazing...and one secret was saffron in the rice. I ate Biriyani all over the world trying to find that taste - India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, London....nothing tasted like that little food stall by the side of the street. - no doubt Singapore has banned such stalls these days.

My favorite food of all time is Green-wing Teal. I have a pair in the freezer for a special occasion. Jim

I think almost all ducks are good eating, but only if they are FAT. Young local birds usually have not had enough time to fatten up for migration. I do draw the line on Ruddy Ducks and Common Mergansers. Have shot fat Hooded Mergansers and they were good and had been eating vegetative material. Have had little experience with sea ducks.