• 1 duck, una muta if you can find it
• 1 small bunch dried wild fennel
• 4 - 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• Salt

Get your butcher to do the dirty work so you can start with a headless, footless and empty duck. Remove any leftover feathers by searing them over a flame, rinse the duck and pat it dry.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Salt duck generously inside and out, sprinkle fennel seeds on top and stuff it with garlic and wild fennel, stalks and all. Place duck in a roasting pan just big enough to hold it, and into the middle of the oven.

Cook duck for 1 1/2 hours (don’t worry about any eventual smoke), turning it 3 times so that each side gets some time on top. Once done, let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it into pieces with scissors. Serve as is or maybe with a swirl of olive oil and some sprinkles of wild fennel on top.

Yield: 4-6