Confit

This term is a French word that is best translated as preserving. It has 2 meanings--one for the savory kitchen and one for the pastry kitchen. In the savory kitchen, it historically refers to a meat submerged in flavorful rendered fat and cooked slowly until very tender. Confit has recently been expanded to include interpretations such as slowly cooking meat, fish or vegetables in a flavorful oil such as olive oil (which may or may not be infused with secondary flavors). Confit has also been applied to anything that is cooked slowly, while not necessarily being completely submerged in fat , i.e. confit onions. This last savory interpretation is probably closely related to the pastry department's use of the confit. To the pastry chef, confit refers to candied fruit--fruit cooked slowly in sugar syrup until tender.