The skin of a duck's neck, peeled off whole like a sleeve and stuffed with a forcemeat of duck meat, pork and seasonings — and, in the richest versions, a core of foie gras — then poached or confited and served cold in slices. It is a charcuterie classic of Gascony that turns an otherwise discarded piece of skin into a small terrine in its own casing. Cut into rounds, each slice shows a ring of crisp-edged skin around a marbled centre.
Stuffed duck neck is part of the same nose-to-tail tradition as confit and alicot in the duck-rearing southwest: when a household kills a duck for foie gras, the neck skin is too good to throw away, so it is filled and cooked like a sausage. In the Gers and the Landes it is a fixture of farmhouse charcuterie and of tinned conserves sold alongside confit and foie gras. The luxury version, layered around foie gras, is the festive one.
Cold, dense and very savoury — the forcemeat is firm enough to slice clean, studded with darker duck meat, and where there is foie gras a seam of it runs soft and yellow through the centre. The skin around the edge is rendered and slightly chewy, sometimes crisped under a grill before slicing. Eaten cold with bread, pickles and a glass of the local wine, the way a terrine is.
The neck skin is a natural casing — peeled intact and sewn shut at one end, it holds the forcemeat in its own collagen sleeve so the parcel sets into a sliceable cylinder as it cooks and cools. A measure of pork fat in the stuffing keeps it moist, while gentle poaching or a slow confit in duck fat cooks the meat through without splitting the delicate skin. Chilling firms the fat so the slices hold their shape and the foie-gras core stays in a clean ribbon.
Variations
The everyday version stuffs duck and pork forcemeat alone; the festive cou farci au foie gras wraps the mince around a bar of foie gras. Goose neck (cou d'oie farci) is made the same way where geese are reared. Some cooks confit the parcel in duck fat for keeping; others poach it in stock to serve warm. It sits in the same family as the region's terrines and galantines.
On the Palate
Where Cou de Canard Farci sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
5 steps · 45 min active + 30 min waiting
- 115 min
Carefully peel the neck skin off whole like a glove and sew or tie one end shut.
Watch outPeel the neck skin off whole without tearing — a hole anywhere and the forcemeat leaks out as it cooks.
- 210 min
Mince duck meat and pork with fat, season with salt, pepper, garlic and a little Armagnac, and mix to a tacky forcemeat.
- 315 min
Pack the skin two-thirds full with forcemeat, tucking a bar of foie gras into the centre if using, then sew the open end.
- 430 min
Poach gently in stock or confit slowly in duck fat until cooked through, keeping the temperature low so the skin does not burst.
Watch outPoach it low and gentle — too much heat splits the delicate skin and the whole cylinder unravels.
- 520 min
Cool, then chill until firm; slice into rounds and serve cold, or crisp the skin briefly under a grill first.
Watch outChill it firm before slicing — warm, the fat is soft and the rounds fall apart instead of holding.
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