Seal shoulder confit with duck fat

Difficulty level :
Preparation time : 10 minutes + 5 hours of refrigeration + 1 hour to rest
Cooking : 2 h 30
Servings : 4 to 6 persons

By chef Yannick Ouellet, Gaspésie chef. The recipe was developped for a workshop dedicated to the art of cooking seal and given during Exploramer’s “Seal Hunt” training program.

Allergens

Egg-free
Lactose-free
Nut-free

Ingredients

2 seal shoulders, trimmed of fat
300 g coarse salt
1,5 kg duck fat
5 ml (1 tsp) peppercorns
1 sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves

Preparation

Salt the top and bottom of the seal shoulders. Place them in a deep dish. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours.
Once the salting is complete, wipe the salt off the meat surface and set aside in the refrigerator.
In a large pot, slowly melt the duck fat. Add the peppercorns, thyme and bay leaves.
Dip the shoulders in the melted duck fat and heat to 85°C (185°F). It is important not to set the heat too high in order to avoid exceeding this temperature. Once the temperature has been reached, let the shoulders cook slowly for 2.5 hours while regularly skimming. The meat is done when it falls off the bone easily.
Once the confit process has been completed, serve or let rest for 1 hour in the fat before setting aside in the refrigerator.
To reheat, take the meat out of the duck fat, put in oven for 20 minutes at 65°C (150°F) and serve.