{"product_id":"duck-season-eating-drinking-and-other-misadventures-in-gascony-frances-last-best-place-9780062309433","title":"Duck Season: Eating, Drinking, and Other Misadventures in Gascony--France's Last Best Place","description":"\u003cp\u003eA delicious memoir about the eight months food writer David McAninch spent in Gascony--a deeply rural region of France virtually untouched by mass tourism--meeting extraordinary characters and eating the best meals of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough he'd been a card-carrying Francophile all of his life, David McAninch knew little about Gascony, an ancient region in Southwest France mostly overlooked by Americans. Then an assignment sent him to research a story on duck. After enjoying a string of rich meals--Armagnac-flamb ed duck tenderloins; skewered duck hearts with chanterelles; a duck-confit shepherd's pie strewn with shavings of foie gras--he soon realized what he'd been missing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMcAninch decided he needed a more permanent fix. He'd fallen in love--not only with the food but with the people, and with the sheer unspoiled beauty of the place. So, along with his wife and young daughter, he moved to an old millhouse in the small village of Plaisance du Gers, where they would spend the next eight months living as Gascons. \u003cem\u003eDuck Season\u003c\/em\u003e is the delightful, mouthwatering chronicle of McAninch's time in this tradition-bound corner of France. There he herds sheep in the Pyrenees, harvests grapes, attends a pig slaughter, hunts for pigeons, distills Armagnac, and, of course, makes and eats all manner of delicious duck specialties--learning to rewire his own thinking about cooking, eating, drinking, and the art of living a full and happy life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith wit and warmth, McAninch brings us deep into this enchanting world, where eating what makes you happy isn't a sin but a commandment and where, to the eternal surprise of outsiders, locals' life expectancy is higher than in any other region of France. Featuring a dozen choice recipes and beautiful line drawings, \u003cem\u003eDuck Season\u003c\/em\u003e is an irresistible treat for Francophiles and gourmands alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMcAninch, David:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eDavid McAninch is the features editor at \u003cem\u003eChicago\u003c\/em\u003e magazine and was an editor at \u003cem\u003eSaveur\u003c\/em\u003e for nine years. His writing has appeared in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNew York\u003c\/em\u003e magazine, the New York\u003cem\u003e Daily News\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNewsday\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRodale's\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e Organic Life\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eDepartures\u003c\/em\u003e, among other publications. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50523411218706,"sku":"9780062309433","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5ff4c429-28ea-45d4-84d5-fd3683877f1e.jpg?v=1731147020","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/duck-season-eating-drinking-and-other-misadventures-in-gascony-frances-last-best-place-9780062309433","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}