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Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Duck a la Orange

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.67 from 24 ratings French
Duck a la orange is a classical French dish, dated from the 20th century in the Florentine District. The duck must be cooked until it is spoon tender. The duck a la orange is also very popular in the United States from the 1960's. This was also one of the fist dishes we studies while at Warwick Chef School, and I am personally very fond of classical cooking. Just like fashion have trends, so does food. Just like the denim jean always in fashion but in different ways, so are food. Classical foods but differently presented. If you love more french recipes, try out the Apple Tarte Tartin.
An elegant dish of French duck a l''orange roasted duck breast with sweet orange glaze.
Prep 30 min
Cook 1 h 45 m
Total 2 h 15 m
Serves 4

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Ingredients

Duck

  • 2 kg duck, legs tied up before cooking
  • salt and pepper for rubbing
  • 100 g butter or margarine
  • 1 orange, cut into ½ wedges
  • 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 3 sprigs of marjoram
  • 2 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
  • 2 carrots, cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 150 ml dry white wine
  • 275 ml chicken stock

Sauce

  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup orange juice(juice of 2 oranges)
  • ¼ cup chicken stock
  • 15 ml butter
  • 15 ml flour
  • zest of 2 oranges

Method

Duck

  1. Preheat the oven to 220° Celsius

  2. Season the duck with salt and pepper

  3. Melt the butter or margarine and brown the duck over medium heat on both sides in a large heavy-base saucepan

  4. Remove duck and place in a large oven dish

  5. Add the orange wedges, herbs, onion, carrot, celery, wine and stock

  6. Cover with foil and roast for about 30 minutes

  7. Lower the oven temperature and roast further for another 1¼ hours

  8. While the duck is roasting, start with the sauce

Sauce

  1. Melt the sugar over low heat and cook gently until the syrup becomes a golden caramel colour

  2. Add the orange juice and cook until a syrup forms

  3. Keep aside

  4. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour to make a Roux

  5. Whisk in the chicken stock to make a sauce and keep whisking to prevent lumps to form

  6. When the duck comes out of the oven, discard the vegetables and herbs and strain the remaining fat

  7. Add the oven fat and add it to this sauce and cook

  8. Add the orange and sugar syrup to the sauce, as well as the zest of the oranges

  9. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until the zest is tender

  10. Serve with the duck

  11. Garnish with orange wedges

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