À table

A can of cassoulet, posed
with its alliance classique

     This is what's for dinner: a can of cassoulet with a bottle of Cahors (the alliance classique, or perfect accompaniment) available at any supermarket for about $7.00 US. By the way, this can 'o' cassoulet, not to mention 750 mL of wine, will last me for three meals.

     Cahors, for those of you whose mind it may have slipped, is the French version of what is called "Malbec" in the U.S.---actually 70% malbec and 30% something else, in this case Merlot. I won't go into all the interesting details about this wine which can be found at Wikipedia "Cahors wine" anyway, but suffice it to say that a representative Cahors should be "mâche"---a man's wine, very tannic.

     Cassoulet, if I need to explain, is the celebrated traditional bean stew of southwestern France. Disclaimer: the can 'o' cassoulet tasted pretty much like a can of baked beans, but thankfully without the sugar.

     Fortunately or unfortunately, we aren't allowed to make a meal only of can 'o' cassoulet in this country, so I decided to take advantage of the mâche-ness of the wine to have some maroilles, the cheese of the country of my ancestors (Haute Picardie and Nord). Probably, the taste of this cheese is too strong to be paired with any wine, but Cahors holds up better than most.

A quarter of a maroilles