Peking Duck in the window of a famous restaurant. In its classic form, the dish calls for a specific breed of duck, the Imperial Peking, that is force-fed and housed in a small cage so inactivity will ensure tender meat. After the entrails are removed, the lower opening is sewed shut. Air is forced between the skin and flesh to puff out the skin so that the fat will be rendered out during roasting and the skin, the choicest part of the dish, will be very crisp. The inflated bird is painted with a sweet solution, hung up to dry for several hours, then roasted suspended in a cylindrical clay oven.

© Monica & Mark Hughes 2000-02