On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 17:55:46 GMT, David Friedman
> wrote:

> Frogleg > wrote:
>
>> How often do you seal leftovers with lard? Or make chicken soup
>> immediately after preparing a meal of roast chicken?
>
>In our case, the latter is pretty standard. It's true that there is
>often leftover chicken meat that goes into the refrigerator--but the
>carcass goes into the soup pot. Similarly, when we are doing a medieval
>cooking workshop, suitable trimmings tend to go into the soup pot. That
>part isn't a lot of trouble.

My thinking is much the same. While it is obviously *possible* to eat
reasonably well and without toxic effects in the absence of modern
domestic refrigeration, it seems to me it'd be a lot more trouble.
Maybe not to heave a chicken carcass into a pot of water after dinner,
but to have to replentish 'fresh' ingredients every day or 2, and make
sure each meal was either consumed immediately or within the same 1-2
day span.

A confit may be suitable for a northern European climate, but "cool
spots" are few and far between in summer in much of the US (and
south). I would be suspicious of chicken soup/broth that was left
unrefrigerated for even a few hours.