A classic accompaniment of the Perigord, named for the town of Sarlat: potatoes sliced and cooked slowly in duck fat with garlic and parsley until deeply golden and crisp at the edges. The canonical partner to confit de canard, magret, and any roasted bird in southwestern France.
Pommes de terre sarladaises — Sarlat-style potatoes — is a regional preparation of the Perigord in southwestern France, named for the medieval town of Sarlat, the region's culinary capital. No specific inventor or founding year is documented; it is a regional method born of the Perigord's defining ingredient: duck fat, the cooking medium of the southwest, where ducks are raised for foie gras, confit, and magret, and their fat is the household cooking medium of the region. The dish is the canonical accompaniment to confit de canard and magret across southwestern France.
A spoonful of pommes sarladaises brings up thin slices of potato, deeply golden and crisp at the edges, soft and yielding within, glistening with duck fat. The flavor is unmistakably southwestern: the rich, almost meaty depth of rendered duck fat, the warm bite of garlic, and the fresh green note of parsley added at the end. Eaten alongside confit de canard, the two share a cooking medium and a regional identity.
Pommes sarladaises rests on two mechanisms: the slow conduction of heat through duck fat, and the Maillard browning at the surface. The potatoes are sliced thin and cooked gently in a generous quantity of duck fat, which conducts heat more evenly than oil or butter and carries the rich, savory flavor of the southwest. Slow cooking over moderate heat gelatinizes the potato starches thoroughly, giving the soft, yielding interior; the surface, in contact with the hot fat, undergoes Maillard browning, developing the deep golden color and the roasted, savory notes at the edges. Garlic is added late so its volatile aromatic compounds survive; parsley is added off the heat to preserve its fresh green color and aroma, both of which are easily destroyed by prolonged cooking.
Variations
Some versions add ceps or button mushrooms; the duck fat, the garlic, and the parsley are the constants that define the dish.
On the Palate
Where Sarladaises Potatoes sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Peel and slice the potatoes thinly; pat dry.
- 25 min
Heat a generous layer of duck fat in a heavy pan until shimmering.
- 325 min
Add the potatoes in a single layer and cook slowly over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until deeply golden and tender.
Watch outCook the potatoes slowly in plenty of duck fat until deep golden and tender — rush the heat and the edges burn before the insides soften.
- 45 min
Toward the end, add smashed garlic cloves to perfume the fat.
- 53 min
Drain briefly on paper, then toss with chopped flat-leaf parsley off the heat.
- 62 min
Season with salt and serve at once, ideally alongside confit de canard.
