under clarified butter. In fact the term is a
fairly inclusive one. It comes via the
French verb confire, from the Latin
conficere, meaning “to do, to produce, to
make, to prepare.” The French verb was
first applied in medieval times to fruits
cooked and preserved in sugar syrup or
honey (hence French confiture and English
confection) or in alcohol. Later it was
applied to vegetables pickled in vinegar,
olives in oil, various foods in salt, and
meats under fat. The general sense has
been to immerse a food in and often
impregnate it with a substance that both
flavors it and preserves it. In modern usage
of the term confit, the connotations of
immersion, impregnation, flavoring, and
slow, deliberate preparation survive, while
the idea of preservation — and the special
flavors that develop over weeks and
months — has faded away.Canned Meats