Duck legs from south-west France, seasoned with Guérande sea salt and slow-cooked in their own fat until the meat is completely tender and falls from the bone. This is confit in the proper sense — not a cooking method applied at home, but a traditional French preservation technique carried out by Valette, one of the most respected producers of preserved duck in the Quercy-Périgord region. The legs arrive already confited, vacuum-packed, and ready to heat and crisp. There is no raw cooking involved — just reheating and getting the skin right.

Confit is one of the oldest techniques in French cooking, developed long before refrigeration as a way of preserving duck through the winter months in south-west France. The legs are first cured with coarse salt, then cooked slowly at a low temperature in rendered duck fat for several hours. The result is meat with a silky, yielding texture and a deep, concentrated flavour that no other cooking method can replicate. The fat seals and preserves the meat, which is why confit has such a long shelf life and why the flavour develops and deepens over time.

The IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) certification guarantees that the duck is raised and processed in south-west France according to the strict regional standards that govern duck production in the area. Valette has been producing confit, foie gras, and preserved duck from their base in Saint-Clair, Lot, for over a century — three generations of the same family, using traditional methods throughout.

Each pack contains two legs. This is one of the most useful things you can have in the fridge: dinner in 15 minutes, with almost no effort, and a result that would not look out of place in a good bistro.

Producer: Maison Valette, Saint-Clair, Lot, France

Ingredients: Duck leg confit (south-west France), duck fat, salt [verify full ingredients from label]

Storage: Refrigerate at 0–4°C. Use by the date on the label. Once opened, consume within 48 hours.