Rooibos smoked free range duck breast

Moonstruck

The culinary team at Myoga in Newlands, Cape Town, may not fully get the lunar intricacies of biodynamic winemaking, but their food match for the Reyneke Reserve Red 2007 is positively celestial. Jeanri-Tine van Zyl reports.

 

Whilst the food emphasis of Myoga at the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Newlands might be contemporary and global, the patron focus is firmly and refreshingly on residents of the southern suburbs: "If you alienate your local clientele, who will visit once the tourists have returned home?" asks executive chef Mike Basset.

The philosophy behind this support of locals is not only a revenue-generating one but also an environmentally conscious one - to reduce the restaurant's carbon footprint. Sourcing produce from within a close radius has increasingly become the norm, with Basset driving the process. "It is a team effort," he says. "I source the best organic produce and Ryan Weakly, our head chef, puts it to work."

Other green practices at Myogo, which means ginger blossom in Japanese, include recycling kitchen oil (for conversion into bio-diesel), waste separation and re-evaluation of suppliers. The eco-conscious restaurant also aims to offer dishes that are best matched with South African wines: international wines are slowly becoming a listing of the past as local wines take preference over those that have to be delivered using carbon-hiking methods.

Weakly may choose his words carefully when referring to the finer lunar intricacies associated with biodynamic farming, but he is in full agreement that there is absolute merit - indeed necessity - in the green movement. He and Basset were therefore the obvious choice when it came to partnering the biodynamic Reyneke Reserve Red 2007 with a dish not only complementary to its style but also its philosophy.

On opening the wine, Weakly says he was immediately impressed by several layers of aromas: "I found quite a bit of anise, black pepper, vanilla and earthy tones. The tannins were also pronounced."

A multi-layered dish of rooibos-smoked, free-range duck accessorised with beetroot and boerenkaas was called for to provide the wine with multiple partners. As Basset explains, the duck fat masks the tannins, the flavour "lifts" the vanilla and smoky undertones, while the beetroot and porcini complement the earthy tones of the wine.

Finally, a strip of boerenkaas brings a nutty character to a dish that, when combined with bite-sized duck springrolls and jus, also counterbalances the acidity in the wine exceptionally well. And don't be intimidated by the seemingly intricate layout of the dish. It works just as well served in a rustic manner, says Basset.

ABOUT THE DISH:
Weakly prepared a dish layered with flavours but dominated by duck meat: rooibos-smoked, free-range duck breast, confit duck leg, organic spring onion and duck springroll, boerenkaas potato dauphinoise, wild anise root and organic rhubarb jus, baby carrots, roast baby beetroot and porcini mushrooms.

The preparation of the dish is quite laborious so you need to give yourself enough time. For the confit duck leg, for example, you will need about four hours to get it just right. You will also need a good amount of time to prepare the duck stock.

Rooibos smoked free range duck breast, confit duck leg, organic spring onion and duck springroll, boerenkaas potato dauphinoise, wild anise root and organic rhubarb jus, baby carrots, roast baby beetroot and porcini mushrooms (serves 2)

Rooibos smoked duck breast
1 large free range duck
125ml rooibos tea

Portion the duck, removing the breast and leg (reserve the carcass and giblets to make duck stock and the legs for the confit).
Score the fat on the duck breast in a cross hatch pattern.
Place some aluminium foil on the base of a large heavy based sauce pot.
Place the rooibos tea on the tinfoil.
Place the scored duck breast on a cooling rack small enough to fit into the sauce pot and place over the rooibos tea.
Cover the pot with aluminium foil and place on the stove on high heat.
As soon as the tea begins to smoke, remove from the heat and allow to cool while still covered with the foil.
Once cool, heat up a saucepan and place the duck breasts skin side down in the pan.
Allow the fat to render off the breasts and the skin to brown and crisp up.

Confit duck leg
2 duck legs
1 cup coarse salt
1 cup sugar
2ℓ duck fat (good quality olive oil can be substituted)

Combine the salt and sugar and cover the duck legs with this mixture for one hour to cure
Remove the legs from the salt, rinse and pat dry.
Place the legs in a sauce pot, cover with the duck fat and place pot on the stove on low heat.
Confit gently for three and a half hours.
Remove from heat and allow to cool in the oil.
Remove the legs from the duck fat and portion the drumstick from the thigh.
Fleck the meat from the thigh and reserve for the spring roll.

Spring onion and duck springroll
1 organic spring onion, finely sliced
Flecked duck meat from confit thigh
2 sheets spring roll pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine the spring onion and confit duck.
Place the spring roll pastry on a board and brush with the beaten egg.
Lay the duck mixture down the centre of the springroll fold over the outer conrners and roll tightly.

Boerenkaas Potato Dauphinoise
500g organic potatoes, thinly sliced
300ml cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
50g boerenkaas cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Grease an ovenproof dish.
Layer the sliced potatoes in the dish, seasoning with salt and pepper every third layer and boerenkaas cheese every second.
Place the cream and garlic in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Remove the garlic and pour the cream over the layered potatoes.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 35 minutes until a skewer can pass through the potatoes without any resistance.
Remove from oven, press with weights and allow to cool.
Once cool, portion into desired size.

Vegetables
6 baby beetroot
6 baby carrot
2 large porcini mushrooms, thinly sliced

Peel the baby carrots and blanch in salted boiling water until al dente and immediately plunge into ice water to halt the cooking process.
Wrap the beetroot in aluminium foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Wild anise root and rhubarb jus
4ℓ duck stock
50g wild anise root (3 star anise can be substituted if anise root cannot be obtained)
100g rhubarb

Add the anise root rhubarb and duck stock to a saucepan.
Place over high heat and allow to reduce until sauce consistency.
Remove from heat and strain.

Duck stock
1 kg duck giblets
1 tablespoon oil
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
1Tbl tomato paste
125ml glass red wine
5ℓ water

Add the oil to a large saucepan and place on high heat.
Place the duck carcass on a roasting tray and roast in a preheated oven.
Add the carrots, onion, and leek to the saucepot and cook until browned.
Add the tomato paste and cook for a further minute.
Deglaze the pot with the red wine.
Add the roasted duck carcass to the pot and cover with water.
Bring to the boil, immediately lower heat and allow to simmer for five hours.
Skim the pot when necessary.
Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

Assembly:
Preheat the oven to 220°C
Place the duck drumstick on a tray and lightly roast in oven for fifteen minutes or until golden.
Place the potato dauphinoise on a tray and reheat in the oven for about ten minutes.
Place the duck breasts on a roasting tray and cook for ten minutes.
Remove the breast from the oven and allow to rest for a minute and then slice thinly.
Toss the baby carrots in a saucepan with a little butter until warmed through.
Toss the baby beetroot in the same saucepan until hot.
Fry the porcini mushrooms in hot oil.
Reheat the sauce.
Plate as desired.