Each year the well-loved D'Artagnan, specialty gourmet purveyors to top restaurants and gourmet home cooks, hosts a wild and raucous culinary challenge named the Duckathlon.
What is this crazy culinary competition and who were the Bird Brains? Glad you asked. Specialty gourmet grocer extraordinaire Ariane Daguin (she of Gascony, Queen of Cassoulet) embodies the French term Joie de Vivre - joy of life. And her culinary heritage and contributions have been acknowledged by the James Beard Foundation (“Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America"), Bon Appetit Magazine (Lifetime Achievement award) and she was awarded the French Legion d'Honneur.
This year the running of the ducks included a team of journalists, dressed as poulet de Bresse and named Bird Brains. A battle cry of: Tout dans le plume, Rien dans le tête! ("All in the pen, nothing in the head!") rang out whenever a judge or camera was nearby.
Teams, Toques and Tosses
Chefs, cooks, restaurateurs from around Manhattan field teams to compete in the culinary challenge. Some of the teams included chefs from top restaurants like Le Bernardin, Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro, returning champions, Annisa (Anita Lo is fierce and fun, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!) Top toques and up-and-coming cooks compete at crepe tosses, pig puzzles and more. Team Annisa won top prize again!
Restaurants and bars around town hosted various challenges. Teams began at, and returned to, Chelsea Market. Along the way, stops included John Georges Vongeritchen's Spice Market, Colicchio & Sons, Paradou, The Standard, Hogs & Heifers.
All teams faced over two dozen challenges peppered all over the meat packing district of Manhattan:
- Piggie Puzzle - timed challenge reassembling pig parts (Bird Brains completed this in 49 seconds!)
- Meat Map - Name that cut!
- All-Clad Holy Crepe Toss
- Blind Spice Identification
- Guess the Weight of a Suckling Pig
- James Beard quiz
- Pasta Pickup (ahem - guess who won that one?)
- Canele identification
- Carving a Mangalitza ham
- Identifying the Armagnac imposter.
Prizes were awarded for best costumes, most spirit and for total points and best times.
Bird Brains Win Big at Award Ceremony
Fielding a team of food writers amongst the heady competition might be intimidating for some. These intrepid broads decided to make a go of it with plus d'esprit. In fact, the food writing quartet won for spirit! Moulard ducks were awarded with a wink and the advice that foie awaited inside. Moulard , or Mulard ducks are large ducks resulting from a cross between Muscovy and Pekin ducks.
The 2011 Duckathlon was dubbed "The Foie Hits the Pan" and did it ever. It also hit the salt in the creation of a lovely torchon. Bird Brains with cooking school behind them and one without, all made feasts of our ducks.
It just goes to show what enthusiasm and courage can accomplish. Long live D'Artagnan! Long live the Bird Brains! One for foie and foie for all!
Jacqueline Church - Award-winning writer, speaker, teacher on topics at the intersection of gourmet and sustainable food issues.
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