lsanderson | No Apologies Necessary When a Dish Goes Awry

Save the Day Rösti.
By MELISSA CLARK
Published: October 5, 2012

MANY years ago, I saw a photo of braised Provençal duck in a food magazine. It was stunning, with bronzed pieces of duck nestled in sauce studded with olives and potatoes.

I made it for a dinner party. Instead of a culinary masterpiece, I was left with a soupy pot of pale duck bobbing under a slick of its own liquefied fat.

Had the same thing happened to me today, I would have simply changed the name of the dish to “duck confit with potatoes and olives.” If people were expecting that layer of fat, it wouldn’t have bothered them. Or if I wanted to get fancy, I could translate the whole thing into French. Moar