[pro/chef] Duck breast with turnip chips, wine-poached pear and carrot puree
Just passed my chef exam with this. What do you think?
The pear needed a bit more color if you ask me, but it was boiled for 40' in wine and left in it overnight.
by Otrica
26 Comments
theGoneman
Looks very appetizing! I would fry it on a slightly lower heat so that the gradient is more even towards the center. Imho.
CodySmash
The puree has to be a real dot. Youve got a piled tube shape
QuapsyWigman
For me, the pear and the duck breast being almost the exact same color gradient is a bit offputting. Also, a whole pear seems like a bit much? I’m being nit picky– overall this looks really nice
edit, just a suggestion, could be nice to cut the pear into smaller slices and put it in between each of the pieces of duck
calmtigers
Honestly I think on a different plate this may look a bit better. Great job!
Otrica
Thank you all for the comments and constructive criticism!
The puree is not in the best shape possible, but I was pressed for time so I had to improvise a bit and I placed it using a Sriracha bottle heh.
The sauce on the duck is pomegranate with honey, red wine, thyme, rosemary and coriander seeds. Reduced for 30 seconds. The sauce was a bit sweet but more on the sour side due to the pomegranate and wine.
Later edit: the duck was cooked to an internal temperature of 56 degrees Celsius on the thickest part. It looks undercooked where the sauce hit it due to its redness. I agree that the fat could have been rendered out a bit more, I’ll try a bit higher temperature next time.
BBennison9
The problem is the duck and pears have the same colors but reversed so nothing pops out. The plate doesn’t help either. The carrot puree dots should also be a lot cleaner. It sounds good but tinkering with the plating and adding some garnish that makes it pop would make it better.
p1neapp1eman
Odd numbers will always be your friend while playing. 3 or 5 on the pears would go a long way. Agree on the puree with others, I would have done a large dollop and spoon swoosh partially visible under the duck. Turnip chips and duck cookery look fantastic.
A_Helpful_Carrot
It looks like it’s from a studio ghibli movie and you should be very proud
SaltyKayakAdventures
Duck looks under, not enough fat rendered out, skin a little dark.
Usually from too hot of a pan, skin cooks before everything else. There’s a very sweet spot to temperature while cooking duck… Too cold will over cook the meat before the skin and fat is cooked correctly.
therealgodfarter
If I was being picky I’d say it’s too symmetric and the turnip chips being hidden is a bit odd
The_McS
The pears are cut too large for the plating.
nugoffeekz
Looks good although I would have used a green over the pears because of the similarity in color to the duck. I think there is an incredible version of this dish though with some minor tweaks.
Pear and Parsnip puree instead of carrot, charred bok choi or broccolini, the turnip crisps and the pomegranate sauce (maybe with some soy added to balance it out).
Alenel
As a avg person. Color is lacking. Lacks vibrancy of greens
splinteroflight
I bet this tastes absolutely unbelievable! I’d say it definitely needs more colour variation, but other than that 👌🏼
redditguysays
You could try poaching the pears sous vide. I wonder if that might help the wine penetrate more deeply?
veggit_40
great job chef! constructive criticism. cook the duck a bit more. reverse the pear and carrot texture (ie pear puree, carrot glazed or something).
Viper9087
Over dressed… Baby carrots would have been a better addition.
peppnstuff
Magret de canard accompagné de chips de navet, de poire pochée au vin et de purée de carottes
ryanosaurusrex1
Maybe render some more of that sub cutaneous fat on the duck and I’m not into rare duck, medium please.
feintplus1
I see a lot of comments about the pear not being good enough. To me, they stood out as the best part straight away. I think if the carrot puree was displayed differently it would help lift up the colors of the duck and pear. Another plate might help as well.
Overall, I like it very much. The duck seems a little too raw for me but that’s just nitpicking really. I like the duck and pear being so similar in color, looks intentional to me.
Thinyser
Congrats on passing your exam. Stop reading here if you don’t have thick skin.
To be honest this does not *look* appetizing to me at all, though in fairness I am sure it tastes better than it looks.
Here is what jumped out at me as an untrained culinary nobody who watches a lot of cooking shows and takes those lessons to heart in my own cooking. (so What i am saying is take this criticism for what it’s worth, not much)
-The orange blobs of carrot puree look like easy cheese from a spray can, mostly because they are uneven and irregularly shaped. If each was a nice perfect dollop, shaped like a hershey’s kiss, they would look far more professional, more appealing, and more like pureed carrots (or hopefully at least look less like spray cheese).
-The pear being the same color as the rare duck meat is off-putting as other’s have said and the quartering of the pear and it’s plating seems particularly rushed or just lazy. I would have taken half the pear, sliced it thin like an avocado and fanned it out over 1/3rd of the plate purple side up so as to hide the interior that did not absorb the wine color and plated the turnip strips over top of the pear and duck with the carrot blobs spaced evenly around the outside.
-The turnip chips are not “chips” they are strips maybe even turnip “shoe-strings” (even by UK standards you cannot get away with calling those thin strips “chips”) and they appear to be completely unseasoned (no salt or anything can be seen on them in the pic).
-Duck breast looks really good, cooked properly, sliced and plated nicely, overall good job. What is the thyme and caper sauce you topped it with that you failed to mention?
unscholarly_source
You’re getting a lot of hate, but I would demolish this dish if placed in front of me
EnemyRegent
This looks delicious! Not sure about the poached pear, but I’m definitely devouring everything else
NastyWoodshed
I love the cook on that duck, and I love the flavor combo of pears with the duck! There is a lot of brown on the plate and I almost think a pop of a contrasting color could be nice (purple potato puree, or perhaps some roasted bok choy, something different from the warm colors).
MegaSalchichon
As Portuguese man that usually eats wine pears as dessert seeing it with the duck is blasphemy and almost diabolical! Congratulation’s though!!
Bob_le_babes
I’m no professional but this doesn’t look appetising. Too much pear, I would cut away the core as well. Just the general colours are off putting too
26 Comments
Looks very appetizing! I would fry it on a slightly lower heat so that the gradient is more even towards the center. Imho.
The puree has to be a real dot. Youve got a piled tube shape
For me, the pear and the duck breast being almost the exact same color gradient is a bit offputting. Also, a whole pear seems like a bit much? I’m being nit picky– overall this looks really nice
edit, just a suggestion, could be nice to cut the pear into smaller slices and put it in between each of the pieces of duck
Honestly I think on a different plate this may look a bit better. Great job!
Thank you all for the comments and constructive criticism!
The puree is not in the best shape possible, but I was pressed for time so I had to improvise a bit and I placed it using a Sriracha bottle heh.
The sauce on the duck is pomegranate with honey, red wine, thyme, rosemary and coriander seeds. Reduced for 30 seconds. The sauce was a bit sweet but more on the sour side due to the pomegranate and wine.
Later edit: the duck was cooked to an internal temperature of 56 degrees Celsius on the thickest part. It looks undercooked where the sauce hit it due to its redness. I agree that the fat could have been rendered out a bit more, I’ll try a bit higher temperature next time.
The problem is the duck and pears have the same colors but reversed so nothing pops out. The plate doesn’t help either. The carrot puree dots should also be a lot cleaner. It sounds good but tinkering with the plating and adding some garnish that makes it pop would make it better.
Odd numbers will always be your friend while playing. 3 or 5 on the pears would go a long way. Agree on the puree with others, I would have done a large dollop and spoon swoosh partially visible under the duck. Turnip chips and duck cookery look fantastic.
It looks like it’s from a studio ghibli movie and you should be very proud
Duck looks under, not enough fat rendered out, skin a little dark.
Usually from too hot of a pan, skin cooks before everything else. There’s a very sweet spot to temperature while cooking duck… Too cold will over cook the meat before the skin and fat is cooked correctly.
If I was being picky I’d say it’s too symmetric and the turnip chips being hidden is a bit odd
The pears are cut too large for the plating.
Looks good although I would have used a green over the pears because of the similarity in color to the duck. I think there is an incredible version of this dish though with some minor tweaks.
Pear and Parsnip puree instead of carrot, charred bok choi or broccolini, the turnip crisps and the pomegranate sauce (maybe with some soy added to balance it out).
As a avg person. Color is lacking. Lacks vibrancy of greens
I bet this tastes absolutely unbelievable! I’d say it definitely needs more colour variation, but other than that 👌🏼
You could try poaching the pears sous vide. I wonder if that might help the wine penetrate more deeply?
great job chef! constructive criticism. cook the duck a bit more. reverse the pear and carrot texture (ie pear puree, carrot glazed or something).
Over dressed…
Baby carrots would have been a better addition.
Magret de canard accompagné de chips de navet, de poire pochée au vin et de purée de carottes
Maybe render some more of that sub cutaneous fat on the duck and I’m not into rare duck, medium please.
I see a lot of comments about the pear not being good enough. To me, they stood out as the best part straight away. I think if the carrot puree was displayed differently it would help lift up the colors of the duck and pear. Another plate might help as well.
Overall, I like it very much. The duck seems a little too raw for me but that’s just nitpicking really. I like the duck and pear being so similar in color, looks intentional to me.
Congrats on passing your exam. Stop reading here if you don’t have thick skin.
To be honest this does not *look* appetizing to me at all, though in fairness I am sure it tastes better than it looks.
Here is what jumped out at me as an untrained culinary nobody who watches a lot of cooking shows and takes those lessons to heart in my own cooking. (so What i am saying is take this criticism for what it’s worth, not much)
-The orange blobs of carrot puree look like easy cheese from a spray can, mostly because they are uneven and irregularly shaped. If each was a nice perfect dollop, shaped like a hershey’s kiss, they would look far more professional, more appealing, and more like pureed carrots (or hopefully at least look less like spray cheese).
-The pear being the same color as the rare duck meat is off-putting as other’s have said and the quartering of the pear and it’s plating seems particularly rushed or just lazy. I would have taken half the pear, sliced it thin like an avocado and fanned it out over 1/3rd of the plate purple side up so as to hide the interior that did not absorb the wine color and plated the turnip strips over top of the pear and duck with the carrot blobs spaced evenly around the outside.
-The turnip chips are not “chips” they are strips maybe even turnip “shoe-strings” (even by UK standards you cannot get away with calling those thin strips “chips”) and they appear to be completely unseasoned (no salt or anything can be seen on them in the pic).
-Duck breast looks really good, cooked properly, sliced and plated nicely, overall good job. What is the thyme and caper sauce you topped it with that you failed to mention?
You’re getting a lot of hate, but I would demolish this dish if placed in front of me
This looks delicious! Not sure about the poached pear, but I’m definitely devouring everything else
I love the cook on that duck, and I love the flavor combo of pears with the duck! There is a lot of brown on the plate and I almost think a pop of a contrasting color could be nice (purple potato puree, or perhaps some roasted bok choy, something different from the warm colors).
As Portuguese man that usually eats wine pears as dessert seeing it with the duck is blasphemy and almost diabolical! Congratulation’s though!!
I’m no professional but this doesn’t look appetising.
Too much pear, I would cut away the core as well.
Just the general colours are off putting too