Rillettes are a French charcuterie made by slow-cooking fatty pork (or duck, goose, rabbit or other meat) very gently in its own rendered fat until the meat falls apart, then shredding it into soft strands, seasoning it, and packing it into a pot sealed under a layer of that fat. Served cool and spread thickly on crusty bread with cornichons, it is a rustic, richly savoury potted meat — a cousin of confit — eaten across France and especially associated with the Loire towns of Tours and Le Mans.