Confit of Salmon

Forget about everything this salmon comes with - forget the sauce, the crunch, the courgette, those are mediocre at best, I want you to focus on that piece of salmon.  It melts like butter in your mouth.

Three years ago at a restaurant I had a piece of salmon poached in duck fat and it blew my mind away.  I think it also came with some fancy garnishes like lobster foam, duck yolk raviolo and other bits and blobs but those were not memorable.  It was the salmon, the taste of it lingered on for days as its texture was simply sublime.

So the other day I recreated it with olive oil.  Same concept, you need enough olive oil in a pan to be able to have the fish completely submerged in it.  Add in some aromatics like thyme and bay leaf, bring it up to 55C, then as soon you put the salmon in, the temperature should drop and you should keep it at 45C.  Have a thermometer.  Don't let the temperature go up.  Depending on the size of the fillet, a 100g piece should take about 17-20 minutes to cook.

You could consider curing the salmon beforehand, I was told that it would firm up the salmon and it would be less likely to fall apart in the oil and it definitely could help with the flavor.  I just cooked it as it was and it was beautiful, no curing, and it held together.