Remember the ‘80s, when we feared fat to the point that we requested our restaurant meals cooked without oil or butter? It seems incredible in today’s restaurants where pork belly and lardo are proudly touted in menu descriptions. Of all these over-the-top ingredients, duck fat reigns as the glamour fat. Chefs rely on its rich flavor and unctuous texture to augment pates and terrines and enhance leaner meats and fish.

At Copper Bistro in Northern Liberties, it dresses a pasta dish that’s served along side a duck breast. Other chefs are employing it as a frying medium, especially for potatoes. Bistro 7, Lacroix, and London Grill all give their spuds a dunk in duck fat. The resulting fries are even more decadent than usual, especially at Lacroix where they are finished with a drizzle of truffle oil. As if potatoes needed that much help to be delicious.

Image, bienmanger.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Joy Manning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted by Joy Manning on 3/26/08 in Joy Manning