Q’est-ce que c’est? De-mystifying Chicago Restaurant Menus.

By L. Stolpman in Food on Mar 24, 2008 8:30PM

It is not an uncommon experience to look at a restaurant menu, have a general idea what an item is but not recognize all of the ingredients or methods used in the description of that item. We’re going to look at some Chicago restaurant menus and discuss both common and uncommon terms that will help you become a more knowledgeable consumer at the table.

Today, we’ll start with a common ingredient and see where the menus lead us. The ingredient? Duck confit.

Duck confit, a form of charcuterie, is usually made with the leg of the duck. Confit refers to the method of preparation, roughly: salted, then slow cooked (and preserved) in its own fat. The result is a crisp, rich tasting duck leg. Following are two restaurant menu items that include duck confit:

Marche: Salade Duck Confit with Lentil Vinagrette, Petit Salad, Mustard Sauce.

Old Town Brasserie: Roasted Duck Breast with crispy duck leg confit, thyme-infused beluga lentils, applewood smoked bacon, savoy cabbage, sauce rouennaise.

Beluga lentils are black lentils that resemble black beluga caviar when cooked. Savoy cabbage is a large head of crinkled leaf cabbage. You may want to sit down while we explain the Sauce Rouennaise. This is basically a blood sauce, made by taking a partially roasted duck, removing, blending and seasoning the liver. Then you remove the legs and breast of the duck and put the rest of the carcass into a big press and…squeeze it out. Blood, juices, organs and all. Add this liquid to the liver, reduce it, and possibly add some liquor, then serve over the duck breast. Would you like to see pictures of this process?

Tune in to Qe’est-ce que c’est? where we’ll continue to explore more adventures into Chicago restaurant menus.

Marche is located at 833 W Randolph.
Old Town Brasserie is located at 1209 N Wells.
Photo by avlxyz