Duck Confit

Duck confit is a traditional French dish made with a whole duck. Confit comes from the French confire, meaning "to preserve." In the confit method, meats are cooked in fat for a long time at low temperatures. This renders tough cuts like duck legs more tender, and when stored in duck fat in a cool place, they last all winter. In the days before refrigeration, this method of preservation allowed cooked meats to last all winter in its own fat.

In Gascony, the Southwest region of France, duck confit is considered a specialty in that region. The traditional method of preparing the meat was to cure it with salt and preserve it in its own fat. The finished product renders tender, juicy, and rich duck meat.

Traditionally, the whole duck is used for confit, however, the legs and thighs are the fattiest portions of the bird and therefore the ones you want to use. Allowing the legs to sit overnight or longer with herbs imparts more flavor into the meat and fat.

The key ingredients to the perfect duck confit are fresh herbs, garlic, salt, and fatty duck meat. The dish itself is quite simple, so it's important to choose fresh herbs like thyme and bay leaves to liven up the dish.

With proper cooking, duck confit should result in crispy skin with juicy meat that will fall right off the bone. Because it is so tender, duck confit can be served over salad greens, potatoes, and a vinaigrette to cut through the duck fat.

Our preparation of duck confit provides the perfect mix of crispy, fatty duck paired with acidity from the cherry vanilla gastrique and pickled red onions.

Duck Confit

frisée, Toybox tomatoes, pickled red onions, cherry vanilla gastrique