For 364 days, I biohack and optimize. But for Christmas, I slow down. Inside the 48-hour process of my annual French Cassoulet, hosting the Takashima family, and the Argentine Malbec that elevated the entire meal.
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It's Christmas again. Time for cassoulet.
This isn't turkey. This isn't ham. This is the Matsuda family tradition now - French cassoulet. Duck confit, pork belly, sausages, white beans. The dish that takes two days to make and tastes like you put your soul into it.
Because you do.
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October in New England means apple picking at Connor's Farm. We came home with fresh apples, and I stopped at Walden Local Meat for organic pork chops and sausages. Then I cooked: braised pork sausages with apples and sauerkraut, and pan-seared pork chops. The kids picked the apples themselves and watched me cook with them. This is what matters - connecting to where your food comes from. Farm to table, literally.
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It's Christmas at the Matsuda house, and I've been cooking for over a week. Cassoulet - the ultimate French winter feast. Duck thighs cured with petit salé for seven days, bones saved and frozen for stock, then assembled with pork ribs, chorizo, and white beans. My old BJJ training partner Takashima drove up from New York with his family. He brought ribeye steaks. I laughed - there's already a whole duck, pork ribs, pork hock, and chorizo in this cassoulet. "More meat is always better," he said. He's not wrong.
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WARNING! The following pictures may contain graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing.
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