Roast duck with dumplings and sauerkraut - Czech specials

Description:
Cooking is just as prone to fads and fashions as the clothing industry is. Fortunately there are dishes that are always made no matter what happens to be en vogue. Roast duck with homemade dumplings and sauerkraut is one of them and rightly deserves its place as one of the permanent fixtures in the Czech national cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 duck weighing around 1.8 kg
3 – 4 teaspoons caraway seeds
salt to season

Directions:
Instructions:

Gut and rinse the duck, remove the rump and coat with salt inside and out. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and place on the roasting tray. Pour over a little water then roast on both sides until golden brown. Fattier parts of the bird should be pricked with a fork during roasting so that the fat oozes out. This should be used to baste the duck when still in the oven thus preventing the less fatty parts from drying out. Take the fat off the top of the juices in the bottom of the roasting tray. Pour in some hot water and boil for a short time, then pass through a sieve. Then put the fat back in and mix well.

Sidedish:
The ideal accompaniments to roast duck are bread or potato dumplings and white or red sauerkraut. Other alternatives include boiled potatoes and various salads.