Truly the end

Eastside Road, May 14, 2011—

THE END OF THE CASSOULET, I mean. Tonight we finished the last of it. Let's look back over its history:

February 28: Six to dinner for the first poele.
March 2: Leftovers for the two of us.
March 13: Six to dinner or the second poele.
March 17: Leftovers for the two of us.
May 12: Four of us took care of most of the third poele.
May 14: The two of us polished off the last of it.

I wrote up a little account of the production of this cassoulet, but it isn't ready to release, not yet. But there's an earlier account up on the other blog, written three years ago and more; it gives a pretty good idea of what goes into it. We spend a few hours on the dish, distributed over a number of days. And it takes a few ingredients: a goose, eight pounds of beans, a bound of pork belly, 12 ounces of ham, a quart of goose stock, seven pounds of sausage, half a pound of pork fat, a few heads of garlic, an onion, a lot of bread crumbs…

Well, it was time and money well spent. Three memorable dinner parties, and three after-party leftover nights when the food was just as delicious. Twenty-two people served, probably thirty servings in all. I don't regret a bit of it, but I'm sorry it's all gone!

Bandol, Domaine de la Tour du Bon, 2007