For our upcoming December 2nd Cassoulet class with Georgeanne Brennan, we are featuring the cassole, handmade locally by Kathy Kearns in Crockett, CA. We are pleased that Kathy will be joining us as our guest to witness her beautiful pottery in use to make and serve this iconic dish. Epicurean Exchange Culinary Education strives to look for opportunities to share and use traditional cooking tools, support talented local artisans, and make for the most authentic culinary experiences possible.
I traveled to nearby Crockett, to meet and pick up my own cassole (serves 10 – 12) and individual cassole serving bowls we will be using in our class. As Kathy states, “My cassoles are styled after traditional French pottery. I make each piece, one at a time on the potter’s wheel. Production is limited, and my intent is to produce wares that have life, breath, and the mark of my hand. My pots are durable and meant for function. My glazes are food safe. All pieces are dishwasher-safe and can be used in the oven and microwave. Because each piece is made by hand, each piece is unique yet related to the others, like members of a family. Small variations in size and color do occur.”
“I have been a potter for 40 years and have been operating out of my studio in Crockett since 1994. Many of my customers are my neighbors, and the beauty and charm of this small town has influenced my work.
“I believe that using and living with a well-designed and handmade functional object brings a quality experience to the everyday act of living. A functional pot becomes complete by the act of use: by filling it up and emptying it. This is the moment when the piece is fully experienced.
“The necessity of eating and drinking offers the potter an opportunity to connect with a wide range of people in an intimate way. Historically, pottery has played an important role in ceremony and ritual. The symbolism of shape and decoration was not lost on the Greeks and Romans, and the act of holding a vessel in hand and bringing it to one’s lips to sip from is an irresistible ceremonial opportunity. Cultures throughout time have devised a language of shape and motif that communicate their individualized and universal beliefs.
“I look to the forms of history for information and inspiration. I am struck by how little our basic needs have changed: containment of liquids and foodstuffs, and the desire to experience life with heightened awareness. I am in awe of the virtuosity of our potter predecessors: the complexity of form, the color, the pattern, how THIN! In looking at the past I am inspired to study form by recreating proportion, concave and convex curves, and then to relate this form to the present.”
If you would like your own cassole (or other unique pottery piece), I highly recommend a visit to Kathy’s website: https://www.crockettpottery.com
We will be sharing photos of our Cassoulet Day! Stay tuned…
“At an auberge, down a bumpy road into the edge of a forest outside Castelnaudary, France. Made with the local Castenaudary Lauragais bean – each one perfect, thin, thin skin, creamy interior and actually light! Duck of course, Toulouse sausages and lovely pieces of buried fat.”
