Confit d’Oie

Appears in

Published 1981

About

To substitute goose for the duck in the above recipe, double the quantities of all the seasonings, including the salt.

Honey

Much like sheep, the honey bees of southern France are migrant. In the Pyrenees the bees’ journey takes place in three stages: the hives travel to the flowering colza fields in April, to the lime and acacia trees in June, and end up in September on heather-clad mountain slopes. In Languedoc the bees are nourished on rosemary, which gives white, large-grained honey. In Provence, after wintering on the plains, the hives are taken to the barren northern hills where the bees feed first on wild thyme in June and then on the lavender that blooms in July and August.

The diet of bees affects the flavour of their honey; the piquancy of heather or the bouquet of lavender does not suit every taste. The finest honey is made when the bees first swarm after hibernation. As an old English rhyme runs, ‘A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay.’

Virgin honey flows from the combs under the heat of the sun. Anonymous ‘table honey’ is extracted using high heat and a centrifuge, which destroys any individuality. Pressing gives an even higher yield of lower-quality honey.

Until sugar became cheap in the 16th century, honey was the principal sweetening agent, so it appears in many traditional recipes. Its flavour has an affinity with spices such as ginger and nutmeg, and any bread or cake containing honey mellows if it is tightly wrapped and kept for a week or two.