I was recently interviewed by the news agency, KeepInNews, who was investigating the popularity of cassoulet, a hearty French dish that is more and more proposed on menus in New York restaurants. The footage (copyright TV5Monde) that you can watch below has been broadcasted on TV5MONDE, a global television channel in French. 

Cassoulet is a great dish, a sort of French comfort food that can be a heart attack on a plate. But, it might be a nice way to end, especially if it is the one from La Sirène, a restaurant in Soho not totally unknown to me, having been there already, meeting a few times with Chef and owner Didier Pawlicki who is from the same region cassoulet is coming from.

But, interestingly, his does not start with a "C", but with a "K" and is spelled phonetically. The explanation? His "kassulet" does not have a garlic sausage (there is a sausage but no garlic). It is made with cannellini beans, carrots, tomato, garlic duck confit, slab bacon and pork sausage all braised with (here is the heart attack) Noble Duck fat, White Stock and Foie Gras Jus. 

The first bite of this dish is divine: you get the crunchiness of the crust and then the richness of the fat. Very flavorful, it is very filling. In fact, I went back a week after the filming and I am glad I did not have any appetizer, although it demanded a lot of will because I was really tempted with ordering their snails that are perfect.  

For me, the cassoulet at La Sirene is the best, before the one at Benoit, the restaurant of Alain Ducasse located Midtown. Will Cassoulet become the new ramen as some say? I do not think so, but I am sure we will find this dish in many more restaurants serving bistro menus. 

La Sirene - 558 Broome Street, New York, NY10013

Enjoy (I did)!

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