13.157 Duck (Breast) à l’Orange

Cycle 13 – Item 157

11 (Sat) June 2022

Duck (Breast) à l’Orange

1.0

at Farmers Hill Camping Jang

-Hansagan, Sang, Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with MtG, KIT, KKH + CJH

Farmers Hill Camping Jang is a campground.  90 lots.  By appointment only.

Swimming pool available during the summer.

Whereas the car-accessible sites were fully booked, a “backpacker” section was available.   Of 14 lots, only 6 were occupied, including 3 by us.  The sites require a short but steep walk up stairs from the parking lot, which isn’t difficult per se but practically impossible with all the heavy gear that most families bring.  Also, each deck is just large enough to accommodate a 1-2 person tent.

While the daytime temperature on the ground was a very warm 30 degrees, we felt comfortably cool in the shade provided by the trees.

Our camping crew started out as a backpacking group (see 1.053 Franks & Beans), so we were happy to bust out the old gear.  Took us a while to set up, as everyone had forgotten how.  But the skills came back quick.

First time using my trusty MSR Hubba Hubba in nearly 9 years (see most recently 4.259 Chicken & Shrimp Burrito) – a testament to the tent’s quality, everything was in perfect working order, except some of the waterproofing in the seams.

Duck à l’Orange is a French dish.  Typically a whole roasted duck, coated in a thick orange-based sauce.

MtG’s latest gimmick is this pan, which has a round slot for a handle – he finds a big stick and makes a big deal of whittling it down to a point that fits into the slot; the stove is made to burn on pellets but also works with dried leaves and small twigs.

My only experience with the dish is hearing about it in the movie Babe, when the farmer’s wife slaughters Rosanna (a duck) to make duck à l’orange for Christmas dinner – “Christmas is carnage!”

In Cycle 3, I made a dish with duck and orange sauce (see 3.112 Pan-Grilled Duck Breast in Soy-Orange Sauce), but I can’t recall what had inspired it.

MtG’s version was awful.  The duck, which he had pre-cooked sous vide at home then pan-grilled on the spot in his dumb pan, was weirdly fishy.  The sauce was sickly sweet.  Louis Le Pieux enjoyed it.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also CAMPING)

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