Spiced Kumquat Confit

👩🏻‍🍳 Tamara Talks – About Kumquats

Having grown up in southern California, kumquats were a “thing.” We had a vigorous tree when I was in elementary school, and we picked and ate them straight away. I don’t remember my mother ever cooking with them, but she may have. She was a great cook.

After leaving southern California at age 16, I never saw them again until we moved to south Texas. Citrus is a major agricultural crop in the Rio Grande Valley, and kumquats usually make a brief appearance in our markets in October or November. This year, I was determined to start cooking with them.

What is “confit?”

You’ve heard of duck confit? Duck is slow-cooked in its own fat. However, “confit” applies to all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and meats.

The word confit (pronounced “kon-FEE”) derives from the French verb confire, which simply means to preserve. Traditionally, confit simply refers to any sort of preserved food, whether it’s meat, fruit, or vegetables. This preservation takes place by slowly cooking food in a liquid that is inhospitable to bacterial growth. With fruits, this is generally a very concentrated sugar syrup*; with meats and vegetables, a pure fat.

~~ Serious Eats, What the Heck is Confit?

In the case of this kumquat confit, the fresh kumquats are simmered in a concentrated simple sugar syrup. The results are spectacular! Cooking the kumquats in simple syrup is something of a shortcut method, and thus it lasts for a few days rather than months. To get the full benefit of confit fruit, all moisture must be removed.

What are kumquats?

Kumquats are grape-sized citrus fruits that fill your mouth with a burst of sweet-tart citrus flavor when you pop them in whole. Yes, indeed! These delightful little fruits can be eaten peel, seeds, and pulp in all. In fact, the peel is the sweet portion, while the pulp provides the tartness.

Are kumquats healthy?

Kumquats are rich in both vitamin C and fiber. You get more fiber in them than you do in a serving of most other fresh fruits! A 100 gram serving (about 5) contains these nutrients:

• calories – 71
• carbohydrates – 16 g
• protein – 2 g
• fat – 1 g
• fiber – 6.5 g
• vitamin A – 6% of RDA
• vitamin C – 73% of RDA
• calcium – 6% of RDA
• manganese – 7% of RDA

For more nutrition information on kumquats, see What are Kumquats Good for and How Do You Eat Them?

📋 Ingredients You’ll Need

Here is a quick look at the ingredients in the recipe – it’s handy to use at the grocery store or as a summary of what you need. Skip to the recipe for quantities.

• kumquats – Choose smooth, bright fruit, and be sure to look for any mold. Remove any damaged fruit immediately.
• sugar – White sugar is fine. I like piloncillo and turbinado sugar, but it messes with the brilliant color of the kumquats.
• cinnamon stick
• whole cloves
• fresh ginger
• orange liqueur – Orange liqueur is completely optional, but I do recommend it! I keep triple sec in my pantry for cocktails, but also for dishes like Veracruz style fish and chocolate mousse. You can use any orange liqueur you might have on hand, or omit it entirely.