fat generated by enzymes from both the
microbes and the meat.
Confits
In ancient times, cooks from central Asia to
western Europe learned that cooked meat
could be preserved by burying it under a thick,
airtight seal of fat. Today the best known
version is the southwest French confit of
goose and duck legs, which became
fashionable in the 19th century on the
coattails of foie gras — which may in turn
have been an accidental by-product of
cramming geese to get the fat for
unfashionable farmhouse confits! The French
confit probably began as a household method
for preserving pork in its own lard through the
year following the autumn slaughter. The
confit of goose and duck seems to have been
developed by makers of salted meats around
Bayonne in the 18th century, when local