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In my local supermarket, they have 2 kinds of duck breast meat: something called magret and something called filet. If you'd ask me to recognize which is which based on just the meat itself, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. There also doesn't seem to be much of a difference in price: both are a little under 21 EUR/kg, with magret being slightly cheaper.

Is there a difference between these 2 meats?

Nzall
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1 Answers1

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From Wikipedia magret refers to a specific breed (the Mulard, not to be confused with the Mallard):

Magret refers specifically to the breast of a mulard or Barbary duck that has been force fed to produce foie gras.

From dartagnan.com :

Sometimes called “duck steak,” the magret (breast) of the Moulard duck is known for its rich flavor and dark red meat. Try it pan seared and find out why the French swear by the duck.

Cindy
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  • Interesting, thanks. Would you cite the "other" site? – hoc_age Jun 02 '15 at 11:56
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    @hoc_age I didn't include the link because it was from a site that sells the magret, dartagnan.com. But I used the quote because it succinctly put several comments I read on other sites in a neat little package. If you think it should be in the answer I will edit it. – Cindy Jun 02 '15 at 12:02
  • @Cindy Probably a good idea to have the attribution at least. Did you come across anything that would indicate why this was the *cheaper* of the two available cuts? – logophobe Jun 02 '15 at 14:14
  • Exercise gives muscle flavor @logophobe, perhaps Magret is less desirable for that reason? – GdD Jun 02 '15 at 14:30
  • @logophobe Thanks, link added. After all of the reading it seems that Muscovy is more expensive than moulard, and that Pekin and Rohan are pretty much in the same price range as moulard. But I haven't found anything that specifically addresses that. – Cindy Jun 02 '15 at 14:31
  • @logophobe To be clear: the price difference was minimal: 10 cents per kg. I doubt it's that significant. – Nzall Jun 02 '15 at 14:57
  • Interesting: The cited articles reference *"mulard"* and *"moulard"* ducks. As far as I know, in English they are called Mallard ducks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard – abligh Jun 02 '15 at 15:42
  • @abligh Mallards are not the same. A moulard is the result of breeding a female Pekin and a male Muscovy. I suspect the 'mulard' spelling is either a typo or alternate. – Cindy Jun 02 '15 at 15:45
  • @Cindy thanks. Even more interesting. You learn a new thing every day. I took the liberty of adding a link to the breed in your answer. – abligh Jun 02 '15 at 15:54