Cassoulet as an Olympic sport?

This would make for judges of impressive girth.

Mark, I think you may need to get yourself to the trials for this!

Read it here at Slate....

This would make for judges of impressive girth.

Mark, I think you may need to get yourself to the trials for this!

Read it here at Slate....

LOL!! Thanks, Mike. I looked over the recipes, and I think that Julia Child's is somewhat closer to mine than Simca's, but they sound good. Yes, cassoulet is a bit of work in the kitchen, but honestly no more (perhaps less) than some of my other favorite wintertime meals: coq au vin and salmis de cuisses de canard. After several decades of work as a lab researcher, none of it seems that hard, and the luxury of being able to eat what you make (Albert Hofmann notwithstanding) more than makes up for the effort expended.

Mark Lipton

What's this woman smiling about?

SimcaMe2.jpg

What's this woman smiling about?

SimcaMe2.jpg

Smiling? Looks more like a grimace...she sure keeps questionable company.
'Winger

I have yet to take on cassoulet myself but my buddy Nilo does an annual "boys-only" cassoulet dinner. I posted his recipe back on the old FLDG (or at least that year's recipe). I find my biggest issue with the stuff is to not overindulge and wake up at 4 in the morning with a bellyache. It really is an amazing dish, though.

Edit: Come to think of it, we have an interesting potential for Olympic Cassoulet. If Mark were willing to come out to California, we could have him, Nilo, and Bettylu go head-to-head in a cassoulet-off. The winner could take home all of the earthly possessions of the judges, who would most certainly be deceased by the end of the competition (and with smiles on their faces!)

What's this woman smiling about?

SimcaMe2.jpg

Smiling? Looks more like a grimace...she sure keeps questionable company.
'Winger

Well, it was a blind date although I knew what I was getting...

I have yet to take on cassoulet myself but my buddy Nilo does an annual "boys-only" cassoulet dinner. I posted his recipe back on the old FLDG (or at least that year's recipe). I find my biggest issue with the stuff is to not overindulge and wake up at 4 in the morning with a bellyache. It really is an amazing dish, though.

This year's event was the first that didn't have some participant feeling the aftereffects. They're either getting wiser, or older, or both.

Edit: Come to think of it, we have an interesting potential for Olympic Cassoulet. If Mark were willing to come out to California, we could have him, Nilo, and Bettylu go head-to-head in a cassoulet-off. The winner could take home all of the earthly possessions of the judges, who would most certainly be deceased by the end of the competition (and with smiles on their faces!)

BettyLu and I did chat about cassoulet at length last summer, and I do get back to NoCal once or twice yearly on average. Maybe we could get Hoke and Roxi to help judge -- that'd serve him right!

Mark Lipton

Bring it on!