Eastside Road, May 12, 2011—
THE END OF THE CASSOULET, I mean, and not a moment too soon. Cassoulet is a cold-weather dish, not to be eaten in the merry month of May. And though it is chilly tonight, it is not what you'd call cold.Still: we had that one last cassoulet in the freezer; it wouldn't really hold until next winter; why not have a couple of friends over and put this baby to bed? After all, we made it in late February; ate the first one March 1 and 2, the second two weeks later. Cassoulet holds well in the freezer; improves even, I think: but only up to a point. It's well known that fats turn rancid even when frozen, and almost as well known that cassoulets are full, let's not mince words, of fat.
So tonight we had our salad first thing, after some mixed nuts and delicious white wine — our guest was a winemaker, after all — and then dug into this last poêle of goose, pork, beans, garlic, breadcrumbs, stock, and other good things.
It was truly delicious.
Sauvignon blanc, Peterson Winery "Timber Crest Farm" (Dry Creek Valley), 2009; Bandol, Domaine de la Tour du Bon, 2007 (both of them sound, interesting, true to type, gratifying)
1 comment:
If I had a hundred plates, cassoulet would certainly be on the list.
There was a short-lived little gourmet restaurant on San Pablo across the street from the old Volkswagen dealer (a block away from Fanny's) which used to have a terrific cassoulet, I think it was called "Violin". But they shut down almost immediately. Now the place is an all-you-can-eat Vietnamese or Chinese outfit.
I'm also a great fan of nuts with cocktails before the meal. We usually have pistachios with ours. Or salted corn nuts. Habit-forming!
Post a Comment