Spinning Gold...

preparing fresh sausage casings- chez Sabadini

Some tales are spun like yarn


or fine gold threads from a bale of straw.


This yarn is woven with guts and blood and a gnawing hunger.

This is a pig's tale.



Next weekend a few special friends join me in Gascony to celebrate the beginning of The Year of the Pig and a year of cochon & charcuterie in the French Kitchen. This winter gathering, born out of a desire to share the table, promises to light a dark moon night with chinese lanterns and tall tales. What will we cook? Who will be there? What stories will be told?



Chinese New Year.
Mardi Gras.
Carnival.


Time to chase the dark demons of winter away and make room for Spring. On Saturday night, in one small corner of the Gascon countrside, there will be fireworks and lanterns, laughter and music enough.


And food; don't forget the food. Pork belly, spareribs, dumplings, and boudin. Ham, pate, saucisse and crunchy pork cheeks. Will 20 people be enough to eat it all? How many bottles of wine? How many glasses of armagnac?


Long after the crowds have gone... there will be talk. Stories and tales to weave through the night; enough yarns spun to make a colorful sweater for the great mother sow as she hovers over the house with 'the ladle' in hand.


And THAT is how history is made. Start with an idea. Make a plan. There is a Chinese proverb for these occasions- Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.