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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Duck Fat & Rachel Ray

Yes, that is Rachel Ray standing in front of Duck Fat in Portland, Maine. While I was visiting Duck Fat, Rachel Ray showed up to film a TV segment. I did not know beforehand that she would be there.

Duck Fat is a small restaurant, a hole in the wall that is worth a visit. They have a very limited menu, basically paninis, salads, soups and Belgian fries. The paninis ($6.50-$13) are very good, especially the Long Island Duck Confit, Grilled Ham and Cheese and the B.G.T. (thick cut bacon, goat cheese & Maine hot house tomatoes). The bread comes from the Standard Baking Co., a bakery in Portland I will talk more about soon on my blog.

The most compelling offering is their famed Belgian Fries, twice fried in Duckfat & served Belgian-Style in a cone ($4.50/small & $5.75/large). You can choose from a variety of dipping such as sweet & sour mustard, duck gravy and curry mayo. I found them very flavorful with a nicely crisp exterior and a fluffy interior. Cooking in duck fat certainly makes for a delicious taste. My favorite dipping sauce is the truffle ketchup, which adds an interesting earthiness to the ketchup flavor.

For dessert, you can order the beignets ($3.75). These are actually doughnut holes which you can have topped with your choice of cinnamon, sugar or chocolate. Like the fries, these have a crisp outer shell and a fluffy inside. They are addictive, and you want to keep popping beignet after beignet into your mouth.

This is a very good place for lunch or a quick bite. You definitely have to try their Belgian fries if nothing else.

Duck Fat
43 Middle St.
Portland, ME
Phone: (207) 774-8080

Duck Fat on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. My cousin Barbara, the chef, says, "Everything tastes better fried in duck fat..."

    She raves about anything done with duck fat, I'll have to go and try this place out. Thanks for the tip.

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  2. Why do so many of the fans always spell her name wrong? Juts curious.

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  3. Duckfat was yummy but what made it even better was going on a trip to Portland for my birthday and finding out Rachael Ray was in town too!! Actually, my BF set it up that way :)

    Look behind Rachael at that woman sitting down wearing a green shirt and flip flops... that's me everybody!

    Thanks for the autographed t-shirt Rachael and your expertise how how to take the perfect picture!!

    Loved that trip !!!

    ~Sara from MA

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