a term most used for a special way of cooking duck which produces what is probably the most famous dish of Beijing (formerly Peking); and also the name for the variety of duck used in this dish, and now commonly bred in many parts of the world.
Chinese authorities do not attribute a very long history to the dish. Roast duck had been recorded from the distant past, but this originally meant a Nanjing duck, of small size and black feathers, not artificially fattened. The story goes that the transfer of the capital from Nanjing to Peking brought unexpected results for the ducks which lived alongside the canal leading to the new capital, a canal used for grain supplies. These ducks, which like the Nanjing ducks were mallard ducks, were now able to feast on grains which fell overboard from barges, and they gradually became larger. In the course of time there evolved a new variety of duck, not only larger but plumper, and with white plumage. The plumpness was increased by the practice of force-feeding, mentioned in texts from the Five Dynasties in the 10th century ad.
This new variety of duck was appreciated outside China. In the 19th century it was introduced to N. America and became a firm favourite. It was also introduced to Europe and the famous Aylesbury duck of England is, if not exactly the same variety, a very close approximation.
However, it was only in China, and indeed for a long time only in Beijing, that the special dish known as Beijing kaoya (in China), Peking duck (in English), and canard lacqué (in French) was prepared. There was no single formula for the dish, but all versions have several features in common. First, the duck is a Peking duck, normally around two months old and specially fed, to reach a weight of 2 to 3 kg (5 to 6 lb). Second, after it has been killed and plucked, air is pumped in (usually by the cook, blowing hard) between skin and body, so that the bird is inflated. It is then gutted, hung up, blanched with boiling water, and coated with maltose to give it a dark amber colour. Third, the rear orifice is plugged and boiling water is poured into the inside of the bird, filling it to about 80%, to make it finally ready for roasting (preferably hanging, in a vertical oven built for the purpose, such as the specialist restaurants use, in which wood from fruit trees is burned).
The effect of roasting after this special treatment is to produce a cooked bird which has a shining golden exterior, attractively crisp, and a moist, succulent inside, the whole having a fine aroma and being free of excess fat.
Peking duck can be eaten in various ways. Perhaps the most common is to cut it into thin slices and then roll these up, with pieces of cucumber and Chinese chives (see chives) or something similar, in fine pancakes, which have previously been brushed with sweet salted bean paste (tianmianjiang). There is some flexibility in the choice of added flavourings and in the sort of pancake used—sesame pancakes, for example, are recommended by some authorities.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
