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‘World’s best’ Silver Hill Duck on Mandarin Oriental, Macau’s menu

The slow-cooked Silver Hill Duck confit with braised radicchio, white onion puree, pickled pumpkin and orange jus.
The slow-cooked Silver Hill Duck confit with braised radicchio, white onion puree, pickled pumpkin and orange jus.

The delicious specially reared duck – lauded by Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay – being served at Vida Rica Restaurant until December 22

Heston Blumenthal is a fan. And his fellow celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is a fan, too. And, no, we’re not talking about that hotel although its Macau premises provide the setting for this article.
The much admired objet de désir here is actually the much-lauded Silver Hill Duck, which is making a rare and limited appearance at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau’s Vida Rica Restaurant.
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What’s so special about the Silver Hill Duck, you may ask?

For starters, the ducks are a unique and cultivated hybrid of the Aylesbury Duck and the Peking Duck, and the Silver Hills Farm in Emyvale, Ireland, is the only farm in the world producing this breed.

The duck even made an appearance in Blumenthal’s British television programme In Search of Perfection, when the celebrity chef went looking for the perfect Peking duck.

Thinly sliced applewood-smoked duck breast and roast duck Hong Kong-style, served at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau’s Vida Rica Restaurant until December 22 .
Thinly sliced applewood-smoked duck breast and roast duck Hong Kong-style, served at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau’s Vida Rica Restaurant until December 22 .

Why are these ducks so difficult to rear? Because the eggs need to be placed in a special incubator and turned eight times a day, to replicate the mother duck’s actions during incubation.