Duck for Dinner

We had duck with a meal two days in a row. The first night fried duck beaks were served. I was grateful that the restaurant was outside and it was dark because in the dim light of the candle at our table, the beaks looked less like beaks, and I could pretend I was chewing on a chicken bone. The taste was fine, I just had to get past the mental aspect that it still looked so much like a cute little duck I would feed bread to as a kid. I admitted to my friend that I had never eaten duck beak before, so I wasn't quite sure how. (It didn't really look like there was much to eat on it.) She said you eat all of it. So that I did, crunch and chew until there wasn't much left.

The next day we had grilled duck heads and duck soup. The night before was just my preparation because this time it was daylight, and it was the whole head, not just the beak. I tried not to think about the fact that the brain, eyes and tongue was still in there.

I'm sure in some countries this is common or even a delicacy, but for me, the head of the duck is not in my average menu.