“Plan ahead” in a Périgord household means having a few large jars of confit de canard on hand. Often made in the autumn or spring, the process is best avoided in hot summer months. The ever-present protein in a classic Cassoulet, the tender meat that gives Canard confit aux lentilles vertes a rich and spicy character, a confit de canard (preserved duck) or confit d’oie (preserved goose) is the French farm house fall-back for quick meals when the gang around the table is famished. Confire in French is to preserve, which is the major point in making confit – the meat is stored in duck or goose fat for a month or six, while the flavors mellow and texture becomes tender.  Tradition held that the choice pieces, leg and thigh as well as meaty breast of duck were reserved for confit.  If wings were plump, they too might be jointed and tucked into the confit crock; the neck skin was stuffed, preserved in jars and sliced for a special entrée. Fattened fowl, ducks and geese, lend themselves well to this age-old preserving method as they provide the fat that keeps them tender and flavorful.

Because I have no flock of ducks to be thinned out or taken to market, I prepared for a recent confit session at the village butcher’s.  Mr. Petit asked his apprentice to show me how to trim the leg and breast from the carcass before salting the pieces. “I’ll save the carcass for you- pour la bonne soupe “, he offerred.  So I trotted back up the hill, my basket loaded with canard et carcasse, and set to work on step one:  salting. I spread the portions on a layer of baking paper, sprinkled sea salt, ground white pepper and fresh thyme leaves over all, and tucked a bay leaf in for good measure. The pieces were placed in pairs with fat side out, wrapped in the paper then slipped into a ziplock bag (some cooks prefer to lay them out on trays) and set  it all in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours.  The salt was then wiped off with a damp towel (not rinsed off, my local advisors exclaim!) and the legs put fat-side down in a soup kettle to heat and melt the fat which will preserve them. Turning the legs gently, letting more fat melt in contact with the hot pan, took about twenty minutes or more. The fat gradually covered almost all, so a little more was added to cover. It is an easy process, just taking some time to check as the covered confit simmers for 2 hours; a larger amount may take 3 hours.

The kitchen smelled marvelous while I put a large pan of water on a back burner, bringing it to a boil to sterilize wide-mouth kilner jars. A few country tunes – J.J.Kale and Eric Clapton – kept me company, as I plunged clean tongs into the scalding water to lift jars, fill them with  the (considerably smaller after bubbling away for 2 hours) pieces of duck into jars and ladled hot duck fat through a strainer on the top of each jar.  Covering completely with the fat is essential. Making sure the lip of the jar was clean and dry, hot caps and rings were screwed tightly in place.  Then the jars rested to cool gradually under clean kitchen towels – and eventually I heard the “ping” of a vacuum seal. It just takes a little time in the spring to make sure there will be confit for autumn suppers, and as J.J. Kale’s tune assures me…. “It’s easy as pie”.

Next up: ..more uses for duck fat, a sweet apple and almond treat,  and Montravel wines for spring fêtes.