Apricot is a French offal stew made with poultry parts that are often discarded, such as the heart, gizzard, neck, and liver. Beans and chunks of sausage or salted pork are added for texture and flavor. The stew is left to simmer for up to eight hours and is served as a main course with French bread and wine.
Apricot is a type of offal stew popular in the southern regions of France. Chefs use the offal of various types of poultry to give the stew an intense flavour. Beans can add substance. In addition to poultry offal, chunks of sausage or salted pork provide a more robust taste.
Throughout history, in the southern regions of France, people generally tended to become frugal. In the more rural areas, where many farmers worked and lived off the land, they made every effort to make the most of what they had. It was against this backdrop and thrifty mindset that apricot was first developed.
This particular stew uses poultry parts that many people might otherwise discard or relegate to making the gravy. The bird’s offal includes the heart, gizzard, neck and liver, which form the base of the dish. Often, chefs include other parts, such as feet, wings, and even the head. The type of poultry can also vary, but most often the traditional French dish contains the offal of duck, goose or pheasant, which are more popular chickens in Europe than in the United States. Chicken or turkey giblets are other options and tend to give the stew a milder, less spicy flavor.
In order to thicken the apricot and give it more body, chefs look for beans. Bean, which is French for beans, are small white beans sometimes known as big northern or navy beans and can be added to the stew whole or pureed first, which gives the dish a thicker texture. Adding chunks of salted pork or French sausage, such as andouillettes or boudin blanc, to the mix gives the stew more substance. For a spicier flavor, saucisse basquaise, which is a savory spicy sausage, is a good addition. Onions and tomatoes are also popular in apricot, as is a hearty dose of white wine.
Chefs typically leave this particular stew to simmer for an extended period of time, often up to eight hours, to give the flavors a chance to blossom and meld together. Usually, once the apricot has finished cooking, chefs remove the giblets and other poultry parts and cut them up and read them in the stew or dump them. Stew is generally a main course with plenty of crusty French bread and, of course, a bottle of fine French wine.
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