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Comment by stouset | Hacker News Reader

I honestly can't believe duck isn't more popular in the US. Yes, it's more expensive than chicken but part of that (I suspect) is its rarity. But unlike lamb (which I love) being something of an acquired taste, duck is unambiguously delicious.

My only real guess is that both duck and lamb–to me–seem more sensitive in general to preparation. Beef, chicken, and pork are less enjoyable when they're not cooked well but they're still alright. Duck and lamb seem significantly less enjoyable when they're prepared badly.

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> Beef, chicken, and pork are less enjoyable when they're not cooked well but they're still alright.

I get that you don't really mean "well" in the steak sense, but I still can't help but to think of how I love medium rare. I will tolerate rare and up to medium well (to a point), but actual well is a hard no.

I grew up thinking I hate steak because my family think the slightest hint of pink is poison. Even my younger brothers, so it's not a generational thing. It gets weird when we meet up and one of them wants to grill the meat, I have to snatch my meat off the grill like a cat burglar because nobody else will respect my preference and try to chase me away (they're completely convinced I'm reckless for this.)

Wow, that's terrible. I'm glad you've learned better taste for steak.

Duck is absolutely great, there's a Thai restaurant near me that makes a great tasting fried duck breast with a peanut sauce. Incredibly crispy, incredibly delicious. Highly underrated meat as you said.

To me the surprise is the popularity of turkey over duck and goose. Turkey is cheaper, but needs to be prepared really well in order to be mediocre. A badly cooked duck or goose is much better than a perfect turkey. The ceiling for goose is high and even higher for duck, but the floor is already pretty high.

Turkey is much much cheaper to raise in quantity than duck or goose. In my family it would be rare to use a turkey for an occasion, its just not interesting.

I hate turkey so much that I banned it from our Thanksgiving. Yes I've had it deep fried, baked, smoked, you name it, still hate it.

We switched to duck instead a few years back and it's positively wonderful. Anyone who eats with us admits it's way better than turkey.

I have no idea why it's not more popular...

I think it falls in the same trap as lamb, mutton and goat. Americans don't like food with a lot of flavor. That's also why there are fairly few fermented foods that are commonly eaten and why Tilapia is a popular fish.

I hate that you're right about this.

I posted this above, but its because its much much cheaper and turkey can be farmed on a scale which is very difficult to do with duck or geese.

Its not banned from our table, but it would get the same reception from my family as if I had heated up some microwave meals. But we grew up on farms and had good access to better alternatives.

BTW, if you like duck, try Goose for thanksgiving, and make sure you use the fat if making roasted potatoes.

Thanks. Never even thought of trying a goose, I'll try to source one this year.

I really despise duck. It has an irredeemably off flavor that overwhelms whatever it’s served with. The preferred way to address this in Western cuisine seems to be sickly-sweet glazes and jellies, which are no better.

Love lamb though. Different strokes for different folks?

Duck soup is one of my favorite soups. And it is hard to get it wrong.

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