Choose small cabbages. Discard the outer leaves and blanch, whole, in a lot of boiling water, for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, cool down in cold water. Halve or quarter, remove the core without letting the leaves fall, drain thoroughly. Blanch the bacon for 5 minutes in boiling water, wipe. Use a casserole large enough to contain the cabbages and the duck, put in the lard, brown the bacon over a very moderate heat. Trim off as much fat as you can from the rind before sliding it, fat side down, under the bacon strips; top with the cabbage quarters. Salt, pepper, moisten with 1/2 glass of water, cover. Braise for 1 hour, taste. If the cabbages are not cooked enough, cook further. The cabbages must melt in your mouth. Meanwhile, brown the duck in a very hot oven, putting the duck on a dripping-pan grill. Once the right color is reached, regardless of the degree of cooking, cut the duck on a dish to collect all its juice. If the fat in the dripping-pan did not burn, keep it aside. Salt and pepper the pieces of duck. As soon as the cabbages are cooked, put the pieces of duck on top, sticking the legs into the cabbages. Add the juice collected when the duck was cut and the fat kept aside. Cook for a further 20 to 25 minutes. Serve all in the same dish. If there is too much sauce, it should be reduced.
