The cassoulet dinner booked up in a flash, out of control, and I am very sorry to those who missed grabbing a table. Looking forward to cooking the way I love to cook, finding the flavors of my own memory, those that delight the soul. That's the nice part of cooking, the delight, isn't it? That, and serving it to those who love to eat. Well, strictly speaking, these are not the dishes my own childhood -- that's another story -- but they are dishes of memory for me, from those early days traveling and eating across Europe, trying to find what's good, from a perspective of naïveté, inexperience, and student poverty, but one full of enthusiasm and hope. These days, it's hard to find classic French food almost anywhere, as so many of the deeply evocative, evolved, satisfying dishes -- those that have been cooked by grandmothers exactly the same way for hundreds of years -- aren't made any more, and remain obscured in a thick, Proustian fog.
As cassoulet will soon be behind us, I'm thinking I may have to put on another such wintry dinner, maybe next time choucroute garnie...
So glad you had a warm response! Sharon and I are soo looking forward to this! Yay! I assume we bring our own beverages to share? What's the best policy for the number of bottles we should bring, and are there recommendations and/or requests for pairing?
ReplyDeletethanks so much! I'm looking forward to it, too. Bring your own drinks, half bottle per person, and if you want them, we will have a couple of wines by the glass and bottle. should be lots of fun... cahors is the best choice, followed by madiran; both southwestern wines ready and willing to stand up to the cassoulet
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