Okay, I thought to myself, this “nose to tail eating” bit has finally gone too far. Oxtail? Sure. Pig’s trotters? Check. Beef heart? Why not. But duck necks? While I know the Chinese (and Ruth Reichl) are big fans of duck tongues, that can seem a delicacy; eating their scrawny little necks really seemed like scraping the bottom of the barrel.
On the other hand, every other thing I’d eaten at Trestle on Tenth, the sleek Swiss-influenced contemporary American joint on the corner of 24th Street and 10th Avenue, had been very delicious, so I figured I’d give it a try.
Ooh, did I make the right decision. Turns out that chef Ralf Kuettel briefly confits the necks before dipping them in batter and frying them. The result is a series of little nuggets of lush, tender, astonishingly rich and flavorful meat coated with shatteringly crisp crust. For me, the fact that you have to gnaw a little bit to get at the meat only increases the eating pleasure. (They’ll supply you with lemon and dampened napkins to clean yourself up before going on to the main course.)
I don’t imagine this is something you’re going to make for yourself at home; in fact, the only duck necks I could find, even online, are packaged for consumption by dogs. But—particularly given the cost of the raw ingredient—I’ll bet they are going to be on more menus around town before too long. At least one can hope so.
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