The 18th century walls of the Kitchen-at-Camont.

Here, in the Kitchen-at-Camont, these stone walls have been listening to cooks muttering about salt and duck fat and smoky bacon for nearly three centuries. There is nothing really new under this Gascon sun when it comes to cooking. And I like it that way. I want to keep it that way.

So, I teach these old ways, not just about cooking but about food. My canal-side home,  the Kitchen-at-Camont, is a place to discover the old cooking of Southwest France with me and my French friends while experiencing the new wave of artisan food production in Gascony.  The Kitchen-at-Camont is a new website and my new seasonal blog about this old place, an 18th century farmhouse and 21st-century culinary retreat in Gascony.

Stories: Meet my neighbors- the farmers and food producers, as well as the students, cooks and artists that wander through the Kitchen-at-Camont and listen to their own stories as they share the discovery of good food in Gascony.

Recipes: Cook along with the seasons as I share the French garden and market bounty we discover at our doorsteps. These easy recipes are like stories we eat: Radish Leaf Soup- an upside down tale, Poule-au-Pot- a king’s politically correct idea, Cassoulet- a mid-winter’s tale .

Growing Food: Discover the year-round produce grown in Gascony’s gardens and farms. Learn what the good Gascon cooks do with celery root, duck breasts, foie gras, chicken, beans, sausage and bacon. Learn about ripe, abundant, tender, fresh food. This is close-to-the-earth gastronomy; gardening, raising and cooking through the turning seasons.

Welcome to my corner of France, a real life place to learn about food in a rural creative setting. The Kitchen-at-Camont  is my own 2-acre canvas of edible textures and colors designed to inspire and teach you while satisfying your cravings for a real taste of Gascony. When you are hungry for more, look at the programs here and… come to France.

Inside the old stone walls...