definition of term

What does the term 'confit' mean as in red-cabbage confit?

[Greg]

Normally, a confit is prepared from poultry. In a nutshell, the cut up poultry is simmered till cooked through in semi-rendered fat from the same type of bird. It is then packed in a container, again with fat from the same type of bird (there's more to this, read "Pates and Terrines" by Ehlert, Lonque, et al). As far as red cabbage is concerned, maybe someone mistakenly named a confiture (fancy French way of saying jam)a confit. My way of doing this would be to saute the cabbage in rendered pork fat, add water, red wine and sugar and cook till the cabbage is tender.

[Jim]

I, too, have seen cabbage and confit in the same menu description... I think that the menu writer was attempting Cabbage Confetti (like a fancy name for slaw).

[Pete]

A confit and confiture by definition very similar although they use different products. They were both a form of preserving before refidgeration. A confit is poultry that is cooked and preserved in it's own fat. Or it can mean fruit or veg. cooked and preserved in brandy or liquor. A confiture is a jam or preservative. In this country chefs tend to use the words interchangeabily.

[Greg]

Makes you wonder how French chefs working in the USA keep their sanity!

[shahar]

When i use the term "confit" it's usaully a strechig of the original meaning. While in original confit poultery is used and cooked in it's own fat, i tend to use the term for other kind of dishes that are simmered slowly in fat for a long time. This use also can help preserve the ingredients for a long time if bottled up.
My favorite is olive-oil tomatoe confit, which is a wonderful addition for any antipasti plate or as a tapas. Another favorite that's kept constantly on my restaurant menu is confit made of salmon skin cooked in olive oil and alot garlic.

I'm in israel where the terms are completly messed up. For being a chef in a proffesional kithchen here you should know the named of all the ingredients in arabic/hebrew/french/american/british and sometimes japanese! I have workers who learned and worked in france, australia, usa, england... each one and his own terms, words, jive...

[Ruthy]

The precise definitions no longer apply in common usage. Anyone using the term confit is still thinking in terms of a duck confit which used to be the standard. Any food cooked very slowly until soft seems to be described as a confit these days. A case in point is garlic. Until a short time ago the term "garlic confit" was used for garlic cloves cooked at a very low temperature in olive oil. Recently, however, I have seen the same term used by prominent chefs when they poach the garlic slowly in chicken stock.