Arroz de Pato One of the “craziest” recipes for a dish considered one of Portugal’s most loved and well known.

Recipe and photo by Jonathan Cairns

Serves 4 1 Whole duck, preferably plucked with head, neck, feet and giblets removed 2 med Carrots 3 med Onions 1 lg Chouriço, halved 200g Smoked bacon, cut into lardons 3-4 Bay leaves 1 Handful of peppercorns 600g Rice: Carolina or Argulha (but any long-grained variety will do) 1 litre Duck stock (from the poaching liquid) 330 ml Stout, Guinness or dark ale 2 shots Strong coffee 4 tbsp Olive oil, divided into 2 Grated mature cheese: São Jorge 6 meses or mature Cheddar for serving

A couple of years ago, I stepped in as last-minute chef at a traditional Portuguese cuisine restaurant, after the previous chef—a longstanding one, too, by all accounts—had a hissy fit and rampaged around the kitchen cursing and swearing with a knife in his hand. It happens sometimes in this biz. I had eaten a fair bit of traditional Portuguese cuisine and enjoyed a lot of it over my time here, so I had a good idea of the ingredients for most of the recipes. On the table here were rather regular tapas, a different lunchtime menu daily, with a big focus on fish and meat dishes served à la carte. What I loved most about that restaurant—A Presunção de Agua Benta (now defunct due to the pandemic)—was that I was learning new stuff every day and, given my lack of experience preparing such cuisine, it would not have been the first restaurant I would have considered working at nor giving my CV. At family-run places—with spouses, children, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends manning the decks and holding the fort—it is rare for an estrangeiro to head up the kitchen. But there I was, soldiering on as best I could with a nagging fear of being caught in the imposter syndrome. Yet, it was a great team to work with and typically Portuguese—enthusiastic and encouraging, funny and fun, and oozing warmth for a welcomed outsider. The kitchen routine of menu planning, stock-checking, ordering, and using everything in stock was less of a shock, though some obscure products and dishes came to light from the deepest recesses of the freezer: chicken gizzards for moelas, pig’s blood for papas sarrabulho, a bag of rabbit heads—eyes and all—for, erm, stock. And a whole duck pulled out by the general manager with a flourish and a triumphant cry of “Arroz de Pato!” “Conheço e já comi, mas nunca fiz.” I know it and have eaten it, but never prepared it. “É facil. O rapazito tem receita da avó!” It’s easy! The little kid has his grandmother’s recipe! Indeed, he did and, quite possibly, it’s the craziest recipe I’ve ever come across, especially for a dish considered to be one of Portugal’s most loved and well known. And here you have it, too. Bom Proveito!

Preparation

Peel and roughly chop two of the onions and the carrots; reserve the peelings. Put duck (jointed, if necessary, to fit pot), chopped onions, carrots, bay, and peppercorns, half of the chouriço, and the bacon in a lidded casserole and fill with approx 1.5 litres of water (just to cover). Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour. Remove duck to cool, reserving a litre of the stock along with the cooked chouriço and bacon. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the duck skin. Shred all the meat. Set aside. Discard carcass/bones. Chop the cooked half chouriço and bacon into small pieces. Heat half the olive oil in a pan and add the reserved carrot/onion peels. Cook until they begin to blacken and burn—10 or 15 minutes at least. Then, deglaze the pan with the coffee and stout. Scrape up any burnt bits from the base of the pan, strain and discard the remaining solids, and reserve the dark liquid. Finely dice remaining onion. Add remaining olive oil to pan, along with the diced onion, and chopped, cooked chouriço and bacon. Bring to a heat, then add rice. Stir to coat everything in oil, then add the reserved litre of stock and the dark, deglazed juices. Cover, reduce heat to minimum, and cook for 12-15 minutes until rice is cooked and all the stock is absorbed. Traditionally, Arroz de Pato is a “dry” dish—much drier than a risotto—but if you prefer it wetter and more liquid, then go ahead and make it so. Put half the cooked rice mixture into a baking dish, cover evenly with the shredded duck, and then with the remaining rice. Slice the half chouriço and place over the rice, ensuring that every portion will get at least one coin of chouriço. Scatter the grated cheese over everything. Bake at 180/200ºC for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and takes on a golden colour and everything is sufficiently warmed through. Now, pour yourself a glass of whatever you fancy and let the assembled guests help themselves whilst you mutter, curse and grumble … washing all those bloody pans. I did that when I rehearsed this dish a couple of weeks ago! PS - I have it on good authority that a fried egg on each portion goes down a treat, too. Jonathan Cairns has been living, working, and cooking up a storm in Porto since 2015. As well as being the city’s main supplier of artisan English Muffins to several outlets, he runs popular bimonthly pop-up events as Johnny Caralho’s Guerrilla Kitchen.