French Gastronomy Month in Kep — In Gascony, Duck and Foie Gras Is Not Indulgence

French duck breast, foie gras, cranberry and gratin — the Gascon table comes to Kep.

Duck and Foie Gras

French Gastronomy Month at Crab & Co moves inland — all the way to the south-west of France, where the duck has been king for centuries and no one has ever apologised for it. In Gascony, the Périgord, the Landes, the duck is not a luxury. It is the everyday vocabulary of a region that has been raising and eating it with total seriousness for generations.

At Crab & Co in Kep this July, that logic arrives intact. French duck breast pan-fried until the skin is mahogany-crisp and the flesh stays just pink inside — topped with a slice of foie gras, yielding and unctuous, dissolving gently into the heat of the meat. Cranberry sauce cuts through with precisely the acidity the plate needs. Potato gratin grounds the whole composition. This is the Gascon table, faithfully set on the coast of Kep.

"Duck and foie gras is not an indulgence — in Gascony it is simply dinner. The French south-west has always understood that the best cooking is the kind that makes no apology for what it is."

French Gastronomy Month at Crab & Co doesn't get more generous than this. Order it for dinner. Bring someone worth sharing it with. Clear the evening.

 A LITTLE HISTORY

The tradition of producing foie gras in south-west France dates back at least to the sixteenth century, when Jewish communities in the Périgord and Gascony developed the practice of force-feeding geese and ducks — lard being forbidden under kosher dietary law. The fattened liver was a byproduct that quickly became the region's most prized ingredient.

The magret de canard — the duck breast from a bird raised for foie gras — only entered the French culinary vocabulary in the 1960s, when chef André Daguin of the Hôtel de France in Auch began serving it as a standalone dish. Daguin treated the magret like a steak, searing it on the skin side until the fat rendered completely, leaving it pink inside. The technique was a revelation and is now standard throughout France.

The combination of duck breast and foie gras on a single plate is a natural one — both come from the same bird, both express the same rich, unhurried Gascon philosophy. Together with cranberry sauce for acidity and a gratin for comfort, it is one of the most complete plates in French regional cuisine.

ON THE PLATE

DISH   French Duck Breast with Foie Gras

COMPOSITION   Pan-fried French duck · foie gras · cranberry sauce · potato gratin · roasted vegetables

PRICE   $33.00

PAIRING   Madiran or a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

VISIT US

Restaurant: Crab & Co at Kep West

Address: National Road 33A, Krong Kaeb (Kep), Cambodia

Hours: Open daily — 7:00 am to 10:00 pm (later on weekends)

Reservations & enquiries: www.kepwest.com/dine

Table booking: www.kepwest.com/reservations

Green Season Special — enjoy our special rates: $129 a night for Cambodians and residents.