Ingredient: Duck

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire once had a corner called Duck End. It was packed with pure white birds getting fattened up to be carted down to the London markets, so the Aylesbury duck became our famous English table duck. These days it’s very rare, and most of the duck on our plates is a wild mallard/Pekin cross, partly descended from birds brought over from China.

Duck meat, with its wild heritage, is darker than chicken. That’s why it’s richer in iron, closer to red meat than to a chicken breast, along with good amounts of zinc, selenium and B vitamins.

Most of the fat sits in the skin rather than the meat, so once you’ve rendered it off, what’s underneath is leaner than you’d expect. And that rendered fat is amazing for roasting potatoes, giving you a proper crispy finish.

Roast a whole one for Sunday lunch, or slow-cook the legs in their own fat the French way for confit. For crispy Peking-style duck, shred the crisp skin and meat into pancakes with spring onion and hoisin. We also love duck with Middle Eastern spices such as baharat.