Duck leg confit

Grind the rock salt coarsely in a mortar with a circular motion, not all the way.

Add peppercorns and juniper berries, crush and grind again; add about a teaspoon of dried thyme and three or four broken bay leaves and grind to a coarse spiced salt.

Coat the duck legs generously with the spiced salt on both sides, massaging it in; excess salt is discarded after curing.

Wrap each leg tightly in plastic to limit air contact and refrigerate 24 hours to cure.

Unwrap, pat the legs dry of the drawn moisture, and brush or wipe off the excess salt and herbs (or rinse under water).

Melt about a litre of duck fat in a cast iron pan, using a thermometer: the fat must never boil, held at about 200F (said as about 90 to 95 degrees Celsius).

Add three garlic cloves and two bay leaves to the fat, then the duck legs skin side down; keep the heat on the lowest setting (some cook at 80C, about 180F).

Cover with parchment paper and a weight so the legs stay submerged; cook at least two hours, here three, until the meat falls off the bone.

To keep: put the legs in an earthenware pot, strain the fat over, let it set and refrigerate; keeps a week or more.

To serve now: drain on paper towel, then crisp the skin in a dry frying pan about 5 minutes without moving it, or under the broiler.

Cook 2 hours 30 minutes if storing in the fat, three hours at 200F if eating straight away.