Confit

Of course, our modern love affair with gathering, foraging and preserving owes a debt to New Nordic cuisine but, to be fair – as the kids around here all say – the more southerly parts of Europe have a profound, and indeed much longer legacy when it comes to harvesting and cooking at the culinary edge.

Hollandaise and mayonnaise must have seemed like molecular gastronomy in their time, and confit –  the art of preserving meat or fowl in its own fat – is the original low temperature cooking.

The word confit is, in fact the past participle of confire, meaning to preserve. In France it is strictly applied to the cooking of duck, goose or pork – all fatty animals, and is a process of cooking, slowly immersed in fat, with the idea that the meat will then be stored in jars or crocks in the fat just like any other preserve.

The concept that you can preserve a lemon in salt and call it a confit is not correct by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you count the word as a verb, rather than an adjective. Confit tomato? Sorry that's an oxymoron: it just can't exist.

So let us salute the French, the Spanish and the Italians for their glorious history in giving us the foundation of so many of the things we cook today. Respect!

Confit of Duck
(Based on a recipe by Anne Willan in French Regional Cooking)

2 duck legs
3 tablespoons coarse ground sea salt
enough duck fat to cover the two legs whilst cooking (you can buy duck fat separately)
ground pepper
2 bay leaves broken into bits
3 star anise
1 sprig of thyme, leaves shredded

First salt the duck with the spices. Leave overnight in the mixture.

The next day, wipe off the salt and lay the two legs, skin side down on a casserole that can go both on and in the stove. Cook the duck for about 15 minutes over a low flame, or until the fat runs and the skin browns slightly. Add enough duck fat to completely cover the meat and place in a low oven (150C) for 2 hours, until very tender. Put the duck in a crock or jar, and cover with the fat. Leave in the fridge for a week. (I didn't manage to cover the top bit of the leg. If you want to store the duck longer, then everything needs to be covered in the fat). You can also use lard, if you don't have enough duck fat.

To serve, bring it to room temperature, scrape off the fat and then fry it in the residue of fat that clings to the skin until hot and crispy.