Duck Fat

Even though it isn't healthy, if I really want to make a dish taste rich and delicious, I'll cook with butter.  In Anthony Bourdain's book, he talks about why the dish you get in the fancy restaurant is better than what you make at home.  He says its because at the end of every dish, a good chef will "ajouter le beurre," or "add butter."  Most of the time when I cook, I use EVOO instead of butter, since it's healthier, but since I've started on the snout to tail journey of cooking, I've decided to try and render my own duck fat.

This last week, I purchased two ducks, because I wanted to try my hand a deboning a whole duck.  This left me with some delicious meat, which I've already eaten, but also a small pile of duck fat.

Duck fat is very easy to render.  First you chop the duck fat up into small pieces.  Place it in a pan, slightly covered in water and let it simmer over medium heat until the water has completely evaporated.  Filter the fat of the small chunks, and let it cool.  Now you have a healthier alternative to butter.  I stole the following table from Fete & Feast.  It shows how duck fat compares to some of the other common cooking fats.  It's not as healthy as EVOO, but it has more good fats, and less bad fats than butter.

Fat (1 Tbsp)	Monounsaturated Fat (Good Fat)	Polyunsaturated Fat (Good Fat)	Saturated Fat (Bad Fat)	Trans Fat (Really Bad Fat)
Olive Oil	10 grams	1.2 grams	1.8 grams	0 grams
Canola Oil	8.2 grams	4.1 grams	.9 grams	0 grams
Duck Fat	6.3 grams	1.6 grams	4.2 grams	0 grams
Lard	5.8 grams	1.4 grams	5 grams	0 grams
Butter	3.3 grams	0.5 grams	7.2 grams	0 grams

Many people try to avoid fats at all costs, but if you read about the French paradox, not all fats are created equal.  The Italians can keep their EVOO.  I'll use some duck fat, thank you very much.