Five ducks and a Heron

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.

( Douglas Adams )



Filet of Heron: Having killed some gray herons, pluck them, skin them, and from each bird take out the two nice fillets of meat which are found on the breast. The rest of the heron is only nerves and bone.

Either roasted or in a game ragout, the breast of gray heron yields nothing in delicacy or savor to that of the wild duck. This recipe from the Somme can also be used for the purple herons of the Camargue, which are still more delicate in taste.

( Toulouse-Lautrec and Maurice Joyant. The Art of Cuisine )