What to do with too many kumquats ?

Last week my favourite chef was on a well deserved vacation, and I had to deal once again with his replacement chef I don't like at all. Actually nobody in the team really likes him. A chef of the "old style", completely egoistic, ignorant and too much convinced of himself. Le patron keeps saying I need to get training at le chaud now soon, so that I can replace the chef next time. I know this has to be the next step if I want to make progress, at the same time I am scared that I won't be capable to fire out the number of main courses in a reasonnable time. Anyway, during that week, the replacement chef placed a couple of nonsense orders with our fruit and vegetable suppliers that nobody really needs, among them tons of kumquat.

First I told the chef on his return, that they need to use them as decoration element for the lunch menu desserts, but it didn't work. He suggested that I make a "confit", I said yes of course, without having a clue at all how to do it. But thank god there is the internet with all the recipes at hand I could possibly need.

And it turns out, that it is really easy to make kumquats confits (preserved kumquats) :

1) "Blanchir" - throw them 10 minutes in boiling water, then cool
2) "confire - step 1" - cook them 30 minutes in sirop (50:50)
3) let rest in the sirop 24 hours
4) "confire - step 2" - cook again 15 minutes in the sirop
5) dry - 15 minutes in the oven at low temperature (60 degrees Celsius)

Yesterday alone I had the impression that a third of the kumquats disappeared, just by my colleagues picking them each time they walked by... When I asked the chef during the afternoon mise en place, whether I can offer him a brownie, he addmitted : no merci, I already ate too many kumquats. No wonder, they turned out abolutely fantastic. A mixed but balanced taste of fruity, bitter, sweet, and sour.

Now the next question, what do we do with tons of kumquats confits, and I thought they would be nice on the "café gourmand" plate we have on the lunch menu, dipped in chocolate. "Sympa" was the chefs jugement, the typical French way, after "pas mal" (not bad), to characterize something outstandingly good.

 

Comments

[Michel from Grenoble]

Bonjour Ulla,

J'ai un Kumquat à la maison mais jamais osé en manger.
Avec l'arrivée prochaine du mois de décembre, je repense aux bons petits gateaux qu'Ulla avait préparée et partagée durant ce mois, au calendrier de l'Avent...
Je serai à Paris du 27 au 30 Nov et heureux de te rencontrer ou deguster ta cuisine, A bientot, Michel Old PM

[Ulla]

Hallo,

nicht nur der Name ist gleich auch die Interessen decken ich ziemlich. Koche sehr gerne und liebe Kumquats, höre gerne Amy Macdonalds.
Pais ist für mich immer eine Reise wert zu lieben Freunden!
Gruß Ulla aus Bavaria

[Ulla]

Hallo Ulla,
ich nochmal. Hab mich heute zum erstenmal durch deinen blog gelesen und festgestellt, dass du ja aus Bayern (München?) kommt. Ich lebe seit 40 Jahren in München ! Finde deinen blog sehr interessant und werde ihn ab sofort verfolgen. Beim nächsten Besuch in Paris würde ich gerne dein Restaurant besuchen. Kannst du mir per mail die Adresse geben?
Grüße aus dem sonnigen München

[arginine]

Never get tired of eating this sweets.