Programme five In the fifth episode of French Odyssey, Rick Stein joined a local fisherman to go pike fishing on the River Tarn. He cooked an indulgent dish of Duck confit with braised red cabbage, and met a fellow chef in Moissac.

In this article

Preparing Duck confit Recipes from French Odyssey

Recipes from French Odyssey Details of Rick's journey

Programme five

Rick Stein enjoyed a spot of river fishing this week when he went in search of pike and zander and discovered how highly the French rate their river fish. He struggled with his morals when he visited some of the region's foie gras producers. Witnessing the force-feeding of corn to the geese, which results in their desirably rich livers, made him realise again the contrast between the British and the French when it comes to attitudes towards food.

"If I was given the choice between a freshly roasted duck, or duck confit, I would probably go for duck confit. I love it that much," enthused Rick.

Duck confit is a classic French way of cooking and preserving duck legs, which results in a meltingy tender and flavoursome dish. You need good quality, fat duck legs for a confit and you need to prepare the dish at least 24 hours before you intend to serve it. The process involves curing the duck legs in salt for several hours before scraping off any loose salt and gently cooking them in duck fat.

Rick said: "The point is to keep the temperature of the duck fat really quite low, just above boiling point. If you cook the duck at too high a temperature you’ll start to fry the legs and they’ll become dry. It takes about an hour and a half."

Once the duck legs are cooked, leave them to cool in the fat. At this stage the French will happily keep the confit for months before eating. They say the older it gets, the better it gets.

There may be some people who are concerned about the amount of salt used to 'cure' the duck. But Rick thinks it's 'ridiculous' to say unequivocally that salt is bad, arguing that it's about how much salt we consume overall. He explains: "Most of the salt isn't contained in the duck by the time you've finished the cure. It comes out by the process of osmosis. In fact, a good confit is not too salty."

And don't be alarmed by the amount of fat in the cooking dish - most of this is removed before the final cooking. It won't be wasted, though. Keep it in a jar in the fridge and re-use it for a batch of perfect chips or to cook super-crispy roast potatoes.

• Duck confit with braised red cabbage

This dish and other recipes cooked by Rick on the programme are featured in a book accompanying the series. Rick Stein's French Odyssey is published by BBC Books. RRP £20. ISBN 0563522135.

Try these other duck recipes from BBC Food:

• Duck in sour-sweet sauce by Elizabeth David
• Crispy aromatic duck by Ken Hom
• Gressingham duck with chicory tarts by Gordon Ramsay
• Duck soup with coriander dumplings by Paul and Jeanne rankin
• Crispy-skin duck with blood plum sauce by Kylie Kwong

Not all the Rick Stein recipes featured on the programme are available on the website owing to copyright issues. However the recipes cooked by Rick on the programme are featured in a book accompanying the series. Rick Stein's French Odyssey is published by BBC Books. RRP £20. ISBN 0563522135.

You can trace Rick's journey through southern France on his website, which features an interactive map and directory of the places he visited.