Rouen Duck Soup (Potage à la Rouennaise)

Ingredients

• 1 small Rouen duck
• 1 liter espagnole sauce (mother sauce of brown stock, tomato, and aromatics), light version
• duck fumet (concentrated stock)
• 2.5 decilitres excellent red wine
• 3–4 decilitres duck fumet
• 1 whole duck liver
• 1 small shallot
• 150 grams butter
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Roast a small Rouen duck as you would for Salmis (a braised preparation), reserving one raw fillet for the garnish.
2. Bone out the remainder of the duck and pound the meat finely. Add the pounded duck meat to 1 litre of light espagnole sauce (mother sauce) flavored with duck fumet. Separately, reduce 2.5 decilitres of excellent red wine by boiling until it measures 0.4 litres, then add this reduced wine to the sauce. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then pass through fine muslin or a sieve. Complete the soup with 3 to 4 decilitres of duck fumet and adjust the seasoning. Heat without allowing it to boil.
3. In a separate pan, quickly sauté the duck liver with finely minced shallot in butter. Pound the liver finely, incorporate 150 grams of butter, and pass the mixture through a fine sieve or muslin to create a beurre de foie (liver butter).
4. Just before serving, mount the soup with this liver butter to finish it. For the garnish, poach the reserved duck fillet at the moment of service and cut it into julienne (fine matchsticks) or thin escalopes (slices).