Serves 8

I prefer the firm, richly flavoured meat of duck over turkey. Its natural marbling of fat makes it easier to keep moist during roasting and means you’ll have plenty of rendered fat to make the best ever roast potatoes. If you would like to flavour the duck, pair it with fruit and sweet and spicy ingredients. Try stuffing the cavity with quartered oranges, shallots and herbs and rub ground cinnamon, ginger, Chinese 5-spice or cloves into the skin with the salt. Towards the end of cooking, you could try drizzling the skin with honey.

2 x 1.8kg Gressingham ducks
Handful of thyme sprigs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bigarade sauce

2 oranges
60g caster sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
300ml ruby port
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
Sprig of thyme
500ml good quality chicken stock
50g unsalted chilled butter, diced

1 Calculate the cooking time, based on the following: cook for 15 minutes at 240C/Gas 9, then reduce to 190C/Gas 5 and cook for 20 minutes per kilo for medium-rare, 32 minutes per kilo for more well-done, plus 20 minutes’ resting. If the ducks are ready-trussed, untie the string and loosen the legs – the birds will cook better.

2 Preheat the oven to 240C/Gas 9. Pat the ducks dry inside and out with kitchen paper. Using the tip of a sharp knife, lightly prick or score the breast and leg skin to help the fats render down during roasting. Season the cavity of the ducks generously with salt and pepper then rub more salt into the skin. Stuff the cavity with the thyme. Set the birds on a large roasting tray and place in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

3 Begin making the sauce. Pare the zest from both oranges, then cut into matchsticks. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, drop in the orange zest and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water and set aside. Dissolve the sugar in a heavy-based frying pan over moderate heat. Once dissolved, increase the heat and cook to a deep caramel. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour in the vinegar – be careful as it will splutter.

4 Remove the ducks from the oven and drain off the excess fat from the roasting tray (keep this for making duck-fat roast potatoes). Reduce the oven temperature to 190C/Gas 5 and return the ducks to the oven for another 35 minutes or so, draining off the excess fat halfway. At the end of the cooking time, leave to rest for 20 minutes, covered loosely with foil.

5 Meanwhile, continue making the sauce. Stir in the ruby port and return the pan to the heat. The caramel may clump together at first, but keep stirring and it will start to dissolve. Once fully dissolved, add the shallots and thyme, then bring the port to the boil. Reduce by two thirds, then pour in the stock and any roasting juices from the duck. Bring to the boil and reduce by half. Strain through a fine sieve lined with muslin into a small pan and discard the shallots and thyme.

6 Squeeze the juice from one of the pared oranges, then add 2 tbsp orange juice to the sauce and check for seasoning. When you are ready to serve, reheat and cook to the consistency of a thin gravy. Start whisking in the butter, a piece at a time to give the sauce a nice glossy sheen, then stir in the orange zest. Simmer for 2 minutes and check for seasoning once again. Carve the duck into slices and serve with the sauce bigarade poured over.

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