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Cassoulet

  • Cassoulet

A Good Appetite

  • A Good Appetite

    Excerpted from JUST ENOUGH LIEBLING by A. J. LIEBLING

    The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite. Without this, it is impossible to accumulate, within the allotted span, enough experience of eating to have anything worth setting down. Each day brings only two opportunities for field work, and they are not to be wasted minimizing the intake of cholesterol. They are indispensable, like a prizefighter's hours on the road. (I have read that the late French professional gourmand Maurice Curnonsky ate but one meal a day-dinner. But that was late in his life, and I have always suspected his attainments anyway; so many mediocre witticisms are attributed to him that he could not have had much time for eating.) A good appetite gives an eater room to turn around in. For example, a nonprofessional eater I know went to the Restaurant Pierre, in the Place Gaillon, a couple of years ago, his mind set on a sensibly light meal: a dozen, or possibly eighteen, oysters, and a thick chunk of steak topped with beef marrow, which M. Pierre calls a Délice de la Villette-the equivalent of a "Stockyards" Delight." But as he arrived, he heard M. Pierre say to his headwaiter, "Here comes Monsieur L. Those two portions of cassoulet that are left-put them aside for him." A cassoulet is a substantial dish, of a complexity precluding its discussion here. (Mr. Root devotes three pages to the great controversy over what it should contain.) M. Pierre is the most amiable of restaurateurs, who prides himself on knowing in advance what his friends will like. A client of limited appetite would be obliged either to forgo his steak or to hurt M. Pierre's feelings. Monsieur L., however, was in no difficulty. He ate the two cassoulets, as was his normal practice; if he had consumed only one, his host would have feared that it wasn't up to standard. He then enjoyed his steak. The oysters offered no problem, since they present no bulk.

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Posts, Pages - Sunday, 12/16

  1. Chianti and Barbaresco to buy and to hold
  2. Kugel and more at Kenny & Zukes Deli
  3. Odds and Ends - How the rich are different from the rest of us
  4. Brillat Savarin - the man and the cheese

Posts, Pages - Sunday, 11/17

  1. Thanksgiving for Culinary Contributions from the New World - Squash, Turkey, Potatoes and More
  2. Cookbooks and Cooks - The Junior League and the Microwave Oven
  3. Blind Tastes - its all in your mind

Posts, Pages - Sunday, 11/4

  1. Yes on 49 - Time to go out and vote!
  2. Sunk Costs and Measure 49 - A trip to Gartners in search of brats and friendship.
  3. Food and Friendship - 3 posts by Tom McKenna, featuring a A Toast to an Organized Man.
  4. Wine Tasting Notes - life after Pinot.
  5. The Hood River Valley - a photo essay on why we go there
  6. Togetherness - foods that go together.

Posts, Pages - Sunday, 10/21

  1. 2006 Pinot Noir for $20/Bottle (or so) - Four great Oregon Pinots. Get'em while you can.
  2. Dasani, Anyone? - an overlong, 5 part series on water, water, everywhere, but ...

Posts, Pages - Thursday, 10/11

  1. To A Good Year - Forgive my lips. They find joy in the most unusual places.
  2. To the Apple of My Eye -Alma Ata - the father of apples, apple philology and assorted apple facts.

Posts, Pages - Sunday, 10/7

  1. Wedge Notes - Cheeses tasted at Portland's first homegrown cheese celebration: Aged Boerenkaas, Rogue Creamery Reserve, Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Barely Buzzed, Mopsy's Best, Sunset Bay, Petite Bonheur, Fenacho  
  2. Ruminations about Price and Value       ( Thinking About Food ) - Ken's Artisan Bakery, Tangerine Habanero Mustard, Two Tzatzikis

Posts, Pages - 10/4

  1. Cheese Recommendations ( Summer Milk ) - Beaufort D'Ete by Herve Mons available for a very limited time at Pastaworks.      ( There is not much left.)  

Posts, Pages - 10/1 to 10/3: 

  1. Pinot Noir Tasting Notes - for Oregon pinot noir currently in the market.
  2. New at the Site  -  list of new posts and information
  3. Help - Collaborators Wanted  -  proposes a means to facilitate collaboration
  4. Thinking About Food - discussion of Food related books, films, news, etc.
  5. Happiness for $10 or less PDF - printable list of wines for $10/bottle or less