MAKING DUCK CONFIT is simple. Yet, rarely does so simple a process alchemize so few ingredients into such culinary gold. Originating in Southwest France as a method for keeping meat from spoiling, “confit” simply translates as “preserved.” It’s just three steps. First, salt and season duck legs for hours or days. Second, poach them slowly in rendered duck fat. Third, submerge them to “ripen” in the cooled, solidified fat.
Modern refrigeration might have banished confit to the history books had the results not been so exquisitely delicious. We no longer need to cure and trap duck under layers of fat where oxygen can’t get to it, but we want to because when you retrieve that tender duck leg from the ultra flavorful fat, crisp it up briefly in a pan, and sink your teeth in, oh my, is it incredible. Underneath a delicate layer of golden skin lies the tender, subtly spiced meat. The cured duck is dense and somehow silky, with
