"Cassoulet is the culinary equivalent of turning straw into gold." -Kate Hill

From an authority on cassoulet and French charcuterie comes a collection of recipes, lore, and personal stories highlighting one of France's most celebrated, and controversial, dishes: the cassoulet. Imagine sitting around a table with selected good friends, approved family members, plenty of wine and a huge cassoulet, piping hot from the oven. With this book in hand, this fantasy is within reach.

Author Kate Hill, who runs charcuterie programs and courses on line from her 18th Century French farmhouse in Southwest France, the Kitchen-at-Camont, writes like a good friend helping you out over the phone as you attempt something just slightly beyond your culinary comfort level. Hill covers every detail that goes into cooking an authentic cassoulet, from the cooking vessel to the essential ingredients (beans, meat, and broth), to the cooking and serving of the finished dish. In addition to an in-depth recipe for classic cassoulet from Hill's town of Camont, she also indulges us with an all-duck cassoulet, a quicker pork-and-beans version and much more.

The beautiful photographs by Tim Clinch were taken over several seasons of cooking and making cassoulet at Camont and especially one chilly November by the warming wood stove in the kitchen.