MAGRET, THE OTHER TREASURE OF DUCK GRAS
Surprising destiny that of the duck "magret". Unknown half a century ago, this piece has entered the consumption habits of the French, to the point of supplanting beef bourguignon in the hit parade of their favorite dishes.
The Magrets, made from two fillets of flesh taken from the breast of the fattened duck, owe their posterity to André Daguin, who ran the restaurant at the Hôtel de France in Auch. At the start of its career, in the 1950s, the meat of duck fat from the South-West, intended for the production of foie gras, was mainly eaten roasted or confit. We can't imagine being able to taste these “lean” pieces alone (magret comes from the Occitan magre, which means lean).
At the time, a certain suspicion weighed on the sanitary quality of the meat of fattened ducks, raised on straw that was not always exemplary, which was therefore preferred to be eaten well cooked.
The young André Daguin will shatter these prejudices. At the end of the 1950s, the breeding conditions improved a lot. The meat of the two fillets, cooked on the very rich fat of the fatty duck, will turn out to be extremely tender and tasty.
Also, one fine day in 1959, the chef offered a rare duck breast on his menu, the appearance and texture of which surprised the customers of the Hôtel de France. "We presented it without fat, so that it looked like a good thick piece of rib steak," said André Daguin, proud to have been able to mistake duck for beef.
“A NEW MEAT”
The dish will gradually enter into the mores of the gastronomy of the South-West, more accustomed at the time to confits. It wasn't until the dawn of the 1970s that an American journalist gave this dish a worldwide reputation. Robert Daley, author of best-selling novels, published an article in the New York Times on André Daguin's restaurant, in which he stated that he had "discovered a new meat: duck breast".
Placed in the spotlight in this way, the dish spread to all French tables.
French duck breast ±350g
Price
€16.29
Sliced dried IGP Sud-Ouest duck breast - 350g
Price
€32.38
Whole Smoked Sud-Ouest IGP Duck Breast - 350g
Price
€32.39
