At 10:09 +1000 10/7/03, Andrew wrote:

>Does anyone eat much duck?
>does it have a higher proportion of dark meat than chickens?
>does this vary from breed to breed?

Duck is all dark meat, with the back half being a little gamier than
the front.

My experience with different breeds is a little limited... we grew
Muscovies when I was young, and the wild duck was limited to mainly
Black Duck. The occasional Teal we bagged was always taken by my
grandpa, so I guess he could taste a difference ;)

There was a huge difference between the farmed duck and the wild ones.
Firstly the Muscovy are a very large duck... you could easily get a
dinner for 4 from a single duck. On the other hand, you pretty much
need one Black Duck per person. The farmed duck were also fatter and
less flavoursome than the wild ones.

And comparing a duck to a chicken, you get a lot less meat from a duck
than you do from a chicken carcass of the same size. I would think
about a third less, and you have to work harder for it.

It's also interesting to note that the lipid profile of duck is very
similar to chicken. But while farmed chicken has about the same amount
of fat (about 15%) as wild duck, farmed duck is about 40% fat!

 ...R.