Nostradamus – image courtesy sacredtexts.com
You know I have a fascination with certain French words – mostly in the culinary department. I just love them for some odd reason. But, knowing me, maybe this is not odd at all……..
Sunday morning, I was sitting on the deck in Orleans, enjoying the first beautiful morning here in a long time, for me anyway. It is the way it is SUPPOSED to be on Cape Cod – cool, crisp and refreshing, the way I remember it being, even in July, 30-odd years ago when we stayed in our little cottages in Wellfleet. This is the kind of weather that gets all your “juices flowing”, so to speak.
Well, Kit had gotten me up at 5:10, and frankly I am glad she did, because there is nothing like relishing in the early morning hours here when it’s like this. I am settling in here and had been through all sorts of culinary “cornucopia” already – facebook, magazines, the July 3 NYT Dining Section on pies that I left here a month ago, Amazon books and then I started going through a copy of Cooking in Provence by Alex Mackay with Peter Knab. It’s just part of the manifestation of my current obsession with Provence. (I have another little “collection” of cookbooks here.) Truth is, I’ve been daydreaming about Roasted Pepper and Ricotta crostini with provencal herbs and mashed olives for the last two days. Earlier, I was grazing through La Pomme de Portland and stopped on a post about Herbs de Provence Goat Cheese Spread and my mind just went-a-wondering off. Do take a look at this lovely blog.
Anyway, I was paging through this book that I keep here and came upon this:
“Confit is a lovely word that encapsulates the treatment given to many different ingredients to concentrate their flavours naturally. There is no real English equivalent.”
Isn’t it true – that there is just “no English equivalent” to so many of life’s most wonderful words, sayings and things???? But, I digress…. This just makes me want to run out and “confit” every abundant Summertime fruit and vegetable in an effort to concentrate and save every last flavor gift for when the seasons turn. In my mind’s eye, the French invented this word in an effort to akin to getting the magic genie into the jar, that perfect, luscious and super-concentrated and intense flavor that just says, in this case “Summer” …….. and, it turns out that I was not too far off.
Ok, so I have this thing about the historical origin of food and food words….. So? (I am trying to get George to fund my Master’s in Food Culture at NYU – ugh, poor guy)….
The word “confit” comes from “the French verb confire (to preserve), which in turn comes from the Latin word (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.” (courtesy Wikipedia)
And, backtracking and flushing out a little, to my feature picture of above – I say a hearty thank you to Nostradamus, physician to Catherine de Medicis, for writing “Treatise on Beauty Secrets and Preserves” in 1555 and having the idea of preserving fruits in sugar. Back then the big priority was preservation – both of foodstuffs and, people – to prevent rampant spoilage and, well poisoning and death! And long before this, in 1343 Pope Clement named a resident of Apt, in Provence the first “Confectionary Master”. In Apt, the weather was very dry and while fruits grew abundantly, they would decay before they could all be used – and so the processes of confit – and confitures were born.
Of course, the confiture – a dreamy world all it’s own – encapsulating the world of preserving fruits in sugar – with the iterations being just endless…. Of course, the modern-day bible of confiture is Mes Confitures by Christine Ferber. But, there are lots of other great books out there like the Blue Chair Jam Book and the River Cottage Jam book. (how do I transit all the books I want to have to reference back and forth? I’m wishing I had these here now.)
Here is a lovely description of the evolution of the concept of fruit confit – well worth reading: http://www.confi-fruit.com/history.html
And, about the following recipe – courtesy Alex Mackay’s lovely book:
“The tomatoes shrivel and dry, intensifying the flavour and darkening the fruit to a deep crimson. In Provence we get such and overload of cherry tomatoes, both red and yellow, through the summer until late September, that we dry them, simply cut in half, for the same length of time. The tomatoes are wonderful in salad, with fresh goats’ cheese or mozzarella, or just eaten as a delicious aperitif, with the oil dripping down your wrists.” What a lovely mental image.
Confit de Tomates – courtesy Cooking in Provence by Alex Mackay
Fills 1x500g (1 lb 2 oz jar
6 large, very ripe tomatoes, or 500g (18 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to cover
1 large sprig savory or thyme, leaves picked from the stalks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
caster sugar
Preheat your oven to 60C/140F, the lowest gas possible.
Cut a light cross in the tops of the tomatoes with a sharp knife. Blanch them in boiling water then refresh in iced water. As soon as they are cold, drain them, skin them, cut them in half and remove the seeds. Put the tomato halves in a bowl and mix with 4 tblsp olive oil, the savory and some salt, sugar and pepper. Turn them flesh side down on to a non-stick tray or a cooling rack over the top of a tray. Dry the tomatoes in a very low oven for about 6 hours or overnight. They should shrink to approximately half their size and be pleasantly chewy. Eat immediately, or put in a jar and cover carefully with extra oil. They will keep, in the oil in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Notes: Right off the bat – I’d experiment with this recipe – leaving skins on and therefore skipping the whole blanching thing, adding some garlic and doubling the herbs.
I never get tired of photographing these beauties!
It just so happens that Dorie Greenspan posted that she’d made up a batch of Peach-Ginger Jam yesterday. Here is the link for how she made the Apricot Jam – and I’m assuming she just substituted the Peaches for the Apricots; http://doriegreenspan.com/2012/07/im-a-whimsical-jammer-meaning.html
Those of you who follow Dorie and her amazing life, know that she lives in Paris for part of the year and therefore gets those amazing Apricots that grow in France, Italy and Austria. See my post – June 10, 2012 . I however am a frustrated Apricot-forager and have not found any on the east coast of the US that are not mealy, gummy and tasteless. If anyone has found some, please send me a note!
Well anyway, you get the picture – confit and confitures – offering an amazing array of ways to concentrate and preserve the amazing flavours of Summer! This morning on Cape Cod it is 55F, it’s August 6th, and ooooo, can September be far away?? – and this begins to make me feel that the days and fruits of Summer will be fleeting! So, grab some great local Summer fruits today and make a confit for your dinner (favorite on fish, chicken, duck or pork), your toast, your muffins, your scones……….
