La Lumière Duck à l'Orange

Pat the duck completely dry inside and out. Prick the skin all over with a needle or skewer, angling sideways so you pierce fat but never meat — fifty pricks is not too many. Salt generously inside and out.

Set the duck on a rack over a tray and refrigerate, uncovered, at least 4 hours and up to 24. Dry skin is crisp skin — this air-dry does more for the finish than anything you do in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 150°C with a rack in the lower third.

waits for: steps 2 and 3

Roast the duck breast-up on a rack over a deep tray. Every 45 minutes, prick the skin again and flip the bird. Low and slow renders the fat layer without overcooking the breast — pour off and save the fat as it collects; it is liquid gold for potatoes.

Done when: Skin taut and pale gold, fat rendered to a thin supple layer.

Crank the oven to 230°C and blast the duck breast-up until the skin bronzes and crisps, 10-15 minutes. The thigh should read 80°C at the bone. Tip the cavity juices into the roasting tray and keep every drop.

Done when: Skin bronzed and crackling-crisp; juices at the thigh run clear.

Rest the duck on a warm platter, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Covering it steams the skin you just spent a day earning.

While the duck roasts: zest two oranges in wide strips, supreme one orange for garnish, then juice all four. You want about 250 ml of juice.

Make the gastrique: melt the sugar dry in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, swirling but never stirring, until it reaches a deep amber — one shade before smoke. Courage here defines the sauce; blond caramel makes candy, dark caramel makes bigarade.

Done when: Deep amber with a wisp of smoke about to happen — pull it NOW.

→ the gastrique

waits for: steps 7 and 8

Off the heat, stand back and pour in the vinegar, then the orange juice — it will spit and the caramel will seize. Return to low heat and stir until every hardened lump dissolves back into the liquid.

Add the stock, shallots, thyme, bay leaf, zest strips, and the trimmed wing tips. Simmer gently until reduced to a light nappe, about 30 minutes, skimming as it goes.

Done when: Just coats a spoon — it will tighten further with the butter.

→ the sauce

waits for: steps 5 and 10

Strain the sauce, then finish it: a spoonful of the duck's roasting juices, the Grand Marnier, and finally the cold butter whisked in cube by cube, off the heat, until glossy. Taste — bright first, bitter behind, sweet last.

Done when: Glossy and nappe — coats a spoon and holds a line drawn through it.

→ the sauce

waits for: step 6

Carve: remove the legs at the joint, then take each breast off the crown in one piece and slice on the bias. Arrange skin-up so nothing sits in liquid.

waits for: steps 11 and 12

Plate the fanned breast and leg with orange supremes, spoon the sauce around — never over — the skin, and finish with flaky salt. Serve the rest of the sauce at the table.