5 Nights of Cassoulet at Publican Quality Meats

 

I like Cassoulet and have had what I thought was some very good Cassoulet at Frontier, and at Sunday Dinner Club.  Paul Kahan of The Publican, Publican Quality Meats, etc. has been inviting the chef from the restaurant in France that has been noted as having the best Cassoulet in France (where Cassoulet originated) to do a popup at Publican Quality Meats, and now Publican Anker, every year for the last several years.  I was invited by a friend from Tasting Collective to go with them to one night of the Five Nights of Cassoulet event that was being held for three days at Publican Quality Meats and two days at Publican Anker.  The date that worked for both of us was one of the days at PQM, so we planned, and met on Saturday night at PQM.  The setup of Publican Quality Meats is like a butcher shop (which it is) with tables in the front to either side of the cashier with space to look in the display cases and refrigerators.  The space was laid out for the event as two long communal tables that ran parallel to the display cases.  The background music was heavy metal, so things were pretty loud.  I could talk to the people next to me, but I did have to raise my voice to talk to people across the table.  It was not so loud, however, that we could not communicate.  We started things off with wine.  Things were pretty casual, so we were only asked red or white.  I generally like to start things off with white, so that is what I did.  It was pretty dry and tasted like a Chardonnay, but that's about all I could say about it, except that it was pretty good.  Also on the table, but left alone until the wine started to be poured were strips of Crispy, Spicy, Coppa.  Also known as Capicola, it is like thinly sliced back bacon, it was very good, and was gone very quickly after everyone stopped being polite (though people were polite enough to see that everyone got at least one piece). 

After the Coppa was gone, we were brought menus for the rest of the meal (written in French but easy enough to understand).  The menus were handwritten and "signed" by Chef David Campigotto of Castelnaudary, France, the middle of the Cassoulet trail.  We started out with a Salade Verte, a green salad with Frisee, Carrots, Radicchio, and a very nice Vinaigrette.  The salad was goodand I suppose it was kind of necessary as a precursor to the very high fat Cassoulet, but it was like an unknown band opening up for a superstar.  Even if it's good, it was, it isn't what people are here for, and while people were polite, they were still waiting for the Cassoulet.

 

 

Chef David had two large Cassoles, the vessels in which Cassoulet is cooked, and several assistants to help him serve the main event.  We were sitting on one end of our table, toward the middle of the space.  There was actually a Cassole that was close to us that they were serving from, but they were serving the other table.  The Cassole that they were serving our table from was on the far side served by Chef David.  I wasn't sure whether it was good or bad that we were served last, but when they were done serving, they did place the Cassole next to me.  I joked that I must have looked hungry, but it did make it easier to get seconds if I so desired (I did).  The Cassoulet was made with White Beans, Pork Belly, Pork Shoulder, Confited Duck Leg, and Pork Terrine.  It was also served with some very good Publican Bread to soak up the sauce.  Many cassoulets will also frequently have mutton, but I had no problem with an abundance of pork.  It was rich and very good and there was plenty left after everyone had there fill, so I ended up taking some home.

 

While somewhat full, I (and most everyone else) were not going to pull out with out dessert.  We were first offered a dessert wine, a blend of Grenache and Grenache Gris, it was sweet, slightly syrupy, and perfect for our dessert.  Listed as Creme Catalan, it was what most Americans would recognize as Creme Brulee.  I am picky about my Creme Brulees in that I think that it should have a good crust.  Looking at the dish, I saw a good amount of Caramelized Sugar, which was a good sign.  It was also solid to the edges, which was also a good sign.  I gave it a light tap which failed to make it crack, which made me happy and it took a significant tap to crack the crust.  After cracking, it didn't disintegrate and it provided some nice textural variety to the very smooth and creamy custard underneath.  This was a great finish to a very good meal.  I really enjoyed this and will definitely keep my eye open next fall when Chef Paul Kahan invites Chef David back for another residency.