A Life Worth Eating

I believe it was Ron Burgundy of Anchorman fame who said “When in Rome.” I know others might quote a slightly more elaborate version of that old adage, but I prefer the conciseness of this one. And I’m not always prone to grasp the philosophical nuances of such sayings, but I think what the wise Anchorman means is that eating Tex-Mex in Toledo or lobster rolls in Lexington is crazy. Trying to eat like a local is definitely the way to go.

Then again, so is trying to speak like one. And frankly, I did a horrible job of both at Au Trou Gascon. As the name suggests, this restaurant features the cuisine of Gascony, an area of southwest France known to geography scholars worldwide for its exceedingly high density of people… enjoying copious amounts of foie gras and Armagnac. The region also happens to be famous for cassoulet, a slow-cooked white bean stew that can include all sorts of happy things: duck or goose confit, mutton or lamb, pork sausage, pork skin, pork belly, pork shoulder, and other particularly pleasing pig parts.