The complex cultural inspirations for this meal may be centered geographically somewhere in the middle of the Alps (French, Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and German), but in execution it struck us as being pretty Germanic.  The recipe for the duck breast has become a classic in our kitchen.

• duck breast from Pat LaFrieda at Eataly, the fatty side scored, then covered with salt, pepper and a bit of turbinato sugar infused with a vanilla bean, left standing for about half an hour before it was pan-fried, finished with lemon, chopped wild wood sorrel from Bodhitree, and a bit of olive oil
• Kartoffelklöße (potato dumplings) from Schaller & Weber, topped by a rich sauce composed of duck juices and several intense elements, fresh and frozen, left over from earlier meals, including the spicy sauce from the quail served two days back, extended with a bit of good chicken stock, and finished with chopped lovage from Windfall Farms
• treviso from Campo Rosso Farm (located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, new to the Union Square Greenmarket, specializing in greens and vegetables) quartered, marinated for half an hour in a mix of garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, then pan-grilled and finished with some of the reserved marinade
• the wine was a wonderful Austrian red which was not particularly Alpine, but definitely Germanic, Andau Zweigelt Burgenland 2012  (the maker, Winzerkeller Andau, is a 300-member co-op located in a tiny village of on Austria’s border with Hungary)