Word: cassoulets
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...French dish is as steeped in history, myth and religion as cassoulet. Natives of southwestern France's Languedoc region link their very cultural identity to the archetypical peasant dish, a rich, earthy casserole of beans, meat and herbs. Cassoulet is said to date back to the 14th century siege of Castelnaudary during the Hundred Years' War, when citizens created a communal dish so hearty their revivified soldiers sent the invaders packing. But since then several cities have laid claim to the true recipe. In a conciliatory gesture, chef Prosper Montagné decreed in 1929 that "God the father...
Today, Montagné's spiritual heirs gather under the banner of the Académie Universelle du Cassoulet, a group of chefs dedicated to cooking traditional cassoulet across Languedoc and beyond. The Academy's Route des Cassoulets offers a visitor's guide to the region, directing the hungry and the curious to restaurants where they can experience all the tastes of the dish. "Cuisine is my religion," says Academy founder Jean-Claude Rodriguez. "Montagné wrote about cassoulet with love, and I try to cook that way." At Restaurant Château Saint-Martin in Carcassonne, Rodriguez faithfully recreates cassoulet...
Rodriguez acknowledges Castelnaudary's status as the capital of cassoulet, but shudders at the sheer volume of the stuff generated in the town's environs: an average of 120 tons is factory-canned there every day. Luckily, at his lively restaurant Au Petit Gazouillis, Alain van Ees Beeck has been cooking Castelnaudary cassoulet from scratch for nearly 20 years. With peppery Montagne Noire sausage, creamy Lauragais beans - slow-cooked with ham hock for a rich, smoky taste - and the farm-raised duck confit famous in Castelnaudary, Van Ees Beeck can boast an authenticity no mass-produced cassoulet can match...
...Meurice (228, Rue de Rivoli). There, relishing dishes like poularde de Bresse stuffed with foie gras (and an amazing cheese cart), I felt as pampered as a Parisian lapdog. At a fraction of the price but still a good value, Chez Paul (13, Rue de Charonne) delivers lace-curtained, cassoulet-slinging bistro fare. Georges, the whimsical Philippe Starck-- designed restaurant atop the Pompidou Centre, offers simple Mediterranean selections and one of the truly spectacular views of the city...
...Parisian Clotilde Dusoulier, who professes to love every food-related act, from shopping for ingredients to garnishing a plate to consuming the results, and recounts all of it with unpretentious aplomb. Recipes are indexed. Extras include a Bloxicon page, where you can brush up on French culinary terms from cassoulet to ganache, and a helpful Conversions cheat sheet. Honorable mention: The Accidental Hedonist, written with flair by one Kate Hopkins. Newsy, political and practical all at once (she offers 14 pointers "for better enjoyment of your cheese" in a May 27 post). The quotes on each page ("My favorite animal...