mmmm........Gourmet Canned Foods!

I don't really remember anything like this from the Safeway store on Via Linda in Scottsdale, but it is quite common to find a variety of canned meals here in France in almost every grocery store. One of my favorites of course is "confit de canard", but I will tell you more about that later in this blog.

I want to start with my first experience having a meal from a can in France. It was my first Christmas spent with Fred in 1999. I came over from Glasgow to stay with him for the holidays. He told me would have a special turkey meal for Christmas day with his parents. I was expecting a whole turkey, but I couldn't find one in the refrigerator. I hope he didn't see the look of surprise when he told me the turkey, stuffing, and sausages where in a can! At this point, I was probably on my cultural awareness best; the walking on eggs that one does at the beginning of a relationship. So, I don't think my surprise was registered as anything out of the ordinary surprise to have a nice special meal for Christmas. I watched as Fred opened the cans and carefully placed the contents in a baking dish. I was later to recognize these cans as coming from a specialty store in town called Comtesse du Barry. Meal was exquisite. Very refined flavors of the turkey, stuffing and sausages were complimented with a nice fresh salad. I was amazed to think that something this good was coming from a can.

Since my first canned food meal in France, I have had many many others. Not just the dishes from the Comtesse, but also canned cassolets and confit de canard from the grocery store as well. Confit de canard is one of those really simple, yet special dishes that you can find throughout the country. I believe the origin is from the southwestern regions. The duck thighs and legs are canned in a bath of duck grease, which helps to preserve and cook them. Normally we will heat the portions in the oven and serve with a salad or potatoes. The meat is so tender it just falls apart with a fork.