Certain duck species, the food historians tell us, were indigenous to America. Others were introduced by explorers and enterprising businessmen. "Ducks have been esteemed for their culinary value by most cultures of the world, and it is possible the Indians of Central America domesticated the bird even before the Chinese did. The first European explorers were amazed at the numbers of ducks in American skies and soon commented on the delicious and distinctive flavor of the native Canvasback, whose name figures in every cookbook of the nineteenth century to the extent that no banquet would be considered successful without serving the fowl. On March 13, 1873...the arrival in New York of a Yankee clipper ship with a tiny flock of white Peking ducks--one drake and three females--signaled the beginning of a domestic industry of immense proportions. The birds were introduced to Connecticut and then to eastern Long Island, where they propagated at an encouraging rate. Domestic ducks were bought mostly by newly arrived immigrants...Only in this century did the fowl, by now called "Long Island duckling," attain gastronomic respect...In the nineteenth century wild ducks were usually eaten rare, but today domestic ducks are generally preferred cooked with a very crisp skin and served wither roasted with applesauce or in the classic French manner, with orange sauce...The wild ducks of culinary importance to Americans include the canvasback...the "mallard,"...the "black duck"...the "ring-necked duck"...and the "scooters"...also called "coots.""
Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 116-7)
