1. Preheat the oven to 150C. Combine hot tea and prunes in a bowl and set aside.

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, add duck in batches, skin-side down, cook until skin browns and fat renders (5-6 minutes), remove from pan and place in a single layer in a roasting pan large enough to fit duck snugly.

3. Pour excess duck fat from pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon in pan (reserve remaining fat for another use). Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and stir occasionally until very tender (6-8 minutes). Add half the wine, simmer until reduced by two-thirds (4-5 minutes), add remaining wine and repeat. Add stock and tea from prunes, bring to the simmer, then pour over duck in a roasting pan. Add thyme, bay leaves and cinnamon, cover tightly with foil and roast until meat is almost falling from the bone (1½-2 hours). Remove duck from pan, cover with foil and keep warm.

4. Meanwhile, cook lentils in a large saucepan of boiling water until just tender (15-20 minutes), drain and set aside.

5. For fine herbes vinaigrette, combine ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

6. Transfer duck braising mixture to a saucepan, skim fat from surface, remove thyme, bay leaves and cinnamon and add prunes. Bring to the boil, cook until reduced by two-thirds (10-12 minutes), add lentils, season to taste and warm through. Serve hot with duck, drizzled with fine herbes vinaigrette.