When the Imperial Palace moat begins to ice over, our thoughts invariably turn to the big red wines of southern France, and to the region's ultimate winter dish -- cassoulet.
Stretching from Languedoc in the southwest, to the Rho^ne valley in the southeast, France's Mediterranean-rim vineyards produce wines that are often described as coarse and rustic. But when paired with the southwest's signature dish, they can be sublimely warming, racy and rich in spice -- doing justice to the term "sauvage."
Cassoulet is a near-mythical dish in France. Three separate towns claim to be the origin of "true" cassoulet, not to mention the existence of innumerable local variations. Just as Japanese can endlessly debate the merits of different styles of ramen or variations on o-zoni, or Brits can go on at length about what constitutes true fish and chips, cassoulet can inspire some of the most heated arguments and intense local pride, perhaps more than any other dish in France.