Duck is a common ingredient in French cuisine, as with other game meat like geese and pheasant. From the duck, the cook can derive duck fat and foie gras with which many traditional and modern French dishes could be made.

1. French Duck Recipes
Duck is a common ingredient in French cuisine, as with other game
meat like geese and pheasant. From the duck, the cook can derive
duck fat and foie gras with which many traditional and modern French dishes
could be made.
Duck fat can be rendered by simmering it with water on very low heat for about
an hour or so until the water has dried, the fat melted and all you have is yellow
liquid with bits of bubbles. Allow to cool then strain on a fine mesh then store in a
glass container. Many cooks favor the clear, golden liquid which makes dishes
richer and more flavorful. Use it for frying potatoes, sautéing vegetables for a
stew, or frying your duck. Store the rest of the fat in the freezer for future use.
A rich French casserole dish is the cassoulet wherein duck can be used as the
main ingredient along with the
pork skin or hocks, and white
haricot beans. The ingredients
(plus herbs and white wine) are
slow-cooked in an earthenware
casserole dish until everything is
tender and the flavors have
melded.
The leg of duck can be prepared
as duck confit, a specialty of
Gascony in southwestern France.
Confit involves preserving the
duck leg by curing it with salt and spices and then poaching it in a deep dish
with the rendered duck fat. The resulting duck confit is tender with a flavorful,
crisp crust from the “poaching” in fat.
Gascony is a also the home of the foie gras (the fat liver of a duck or goose
specifically fattened for that purpose). Foie gras can be made into a flavorful
paté with similarly rich ingredients like butter, cream, and wine and then served
on toasted bread as an appetizer.