From Julie & Julia · 2009 · Reconstructed
Pâté de Canard en Croûte
Serve when
Carry it to the table the moment someone calls it 'la pièce de résistance' — the final recipe of the year, and it had better look exactly the way it's supposed to look.
In the movie
Theatrical
- 01:55:09 The 365th day and 524th recipe: a whole duck boned, stuffed, and wrapped in pastry, pulled from the oven, cooled, and carried to the table as Julie's project reaches its finish — 'la pièce de résistance.'
This is the last recipe of Julie's year — the one she's been dreading since she first learned she'd have to bone a whole duck. The film doesn't linger on the boning itself; it lingers on the payoff, the finished pastry carried out to the table exactly as promised, "the way it's supposed to look." Coming after aspics that collapsed and a lobster that had to be talked into dying, the duck en croûte is the film's proof that a year of following someone else's recipes, exactly, faithfully, to the letter, adds up to something worth applauding.
Ingredients
Method
- Lay the boned duck skin-side down. Season the inside well, then spread the ground pork and diced fat over it in an even layer, mixed with the shallots, garlic, quatre épices, and brandy.
- Roll the duck closed around the stuffing, tying if needed to hold its shape, and let it firm up in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Roll out the pastry and wrap the duck completely, sealing the seams well and trimming the excess. Glaze with the beaten egg.
- Bake at 375°F for about 2 hours, until the pastry is deep golden and a skewer to the center comes out hot — an instant-read thermometer should show 160°F at the center, the safe mark for the pork forcemeat. Tent with foil if the pastry browns too fast.
- Cool for several hours before slicing — it needs the rest to hold together and slice in clean rounds, pastry, forcemeat, and duck in one piece.
Substitutions
- Whole boned duck: ask a butcher to bone it, or make a roulade with two boneless duck breasts and the same forcemeat. The roulade loses the grand "whole duck" reveal but keeps the pastry, duck, and pâté logic intact.
- Ground pork and pork fat: fatty ground pork shoulder covers both jobs if separate pork fat is hard to source. Bacon works, but blanch or rinse it first so smoke and salt don't take over the French pâté flavor.
- Quatre épices: mix allspice, nutmeg, clove, and white or black pepper in equal small pinches. It should be warm and subtle, not pumpkin-spice loud.
- Pastry: all-butter puff pastry is friendlier than a hot-water pâté crust. Chill the wrapped duck thoroughly before baking so the pastry stays defined.
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