All About Cassoulet

[John Whiting]

... what part have restaurants/taverns/eating houses historically played in giving the dish a regional identity, in contrast to 'yet another bean and meat stew' made in private homes?

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Those who live in the area can answer with more knowledge than I have, but it's highly relevant that both bouillabaisse (which you also mention) and cassoulet have websites set up by "official" guardians of their integrity, who just happen to be running restaurants serving the One True Version.

[bleudauvergne]

One other family (Carcassonne) requires partridge.

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If partridge were compulsory, Carcassonne cassoulets could only be made from October through January. Unless of course there's a confit de perdrix I haven't heard of.

I wonder if in Carcassonne they might put up anything like the Confit de perdreau gris à l'ancienne served by Pierre Gagnaire in his champagne menu.

[Dave Hatfield]

Prosper Montagne, his tongue firmly in his cheek, posited  a cassoulet Holy Trinity of Father (Castelnaudary), Son (Carcassonne), and Holy Spirit (Toulouse).

Why does Cahors always seem to get left out? They too claim le vrai cassoulet and swear that their is THE only proper wine to drink with it. Hard to argue with them.

I'm wondering if I'm the only one old enough to have made their first cassoulet following the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking? In any case how did you make your first cassoulet? Asking when might be embarassing.

[Ptipois]

While, "cassoulet" is a spectrum of dishes, rather then a specific dish, I would really like to know what formally distinguishes it from numerous other bean dishes of the world. I haven't read anything definative as yet on the subject.

Well at least there has to be pork of some sort, and white beans. The texture relies on pork rinds, a rather overlooked fact. That can be defined as the basis: just beans and just rinds can make a cassoulet. The double cooking (stewing + gratin) is also essential.

This issue of classification is a common problem for biologists, everybody can tell the difference between a dog and a cat, but it is actually quite difficult (for layman) to accurately describe what makes them physically different from each other. People end up taking about "Doggines" etc, and this seems to be the case with many iconic dishes - "bouillabaisse" is another example.

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I don't believe in rigid classifications in cuisine, no more than I believe in "the only true authentic recipe" of this or that. Country cooking just isn't like that. Some people like to create "schools" and charts and confréries about that sort of thing but I believe their secret purpose is eating and getting drunk together, sometimes wearing funny clothes. Famous traditional dishes have generated a lot of literature — but more for the sake of literature than for the sake of food. Cassoulet does generate a folkloric, touristical, kitschy aspect that I find rather misleading. I think the dish deserves much better than that.

[Ptipois]

One other family (Carcassonne) requires partridge.

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If partridge were compulsory, Carcassonne cassoulets could only be made from October through January. Unless of course there's a confit de perdrix I haven't heard of.

Confit can be made out of some old game birds. In the case of non-palmipedes like partridge, extra fat is needed. Preserved partridge can be used in the Carcassonne cassoulet, and fresh old partridge when in season. And to be exact, it's not that compulsory. But it's part of the basic ingredients in Carcassonne.

Prosper Montagne, his tongue firmly in his cheek, posited  a cassoulet Holy Trinity of Father (Castelnaudary), Son (Carcassonne), and Holy Spirit (Toulouse). Once established, it has perpetuated contraversies as politically, economically and egotistically inspired as those of the Nicene Council. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, cassoulet is whatever you can get away with.

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That's indeed how the folkloric literature went after Prosper Montagné. The controversy was always more literary than real, and was a Parisian legend much more than a Southwestern phenomenon. People in Carcassonne, Toulouse, Castelnaudary, Montauban, etc., just cooked their cassoulets their ways, and had better to do with their lives than fight about them. Bouillabaisse is a slightly different subject because the controversy about the dish was always a typically Marseillais thing.

[Adam Balic]

While, "cassoulet" is a spectrum of dishes, rather then a specific dish, I would really like to know what formally distinguishes it from numerous other bean dishes of the world. I haven't read anything definative as yet on the subject.

Well at least there has to be pork of some sort, and white beans. The texture relies on pork rinds, a rather overlooked fact. That can be defined as the basis: just beans and just rinds can make a cassoulet. The double cooking (stewing + gratin) is also essential.

OK, the name of the Greek dish I was thinking about is khirino khoriatiko. It contains a similar range of ingredients to cassoulet and is gratined, but is quite different in spicing etc. So the basic ingredients and a lot of the technique is similar, it seems that the major differences are in the details.

Edited May 16, 2006 by Adam Balic (log)

[John Whiting]

So the basic ingredients and a lot of the technique is similar, it seems that the major differences are in the details.

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Ingredients that go naturally together are likely to show up similarly juxtaposed in different cuisines. For instance the difference between a ratatouille and a caponata is similarly one of detail. Edited May 16, 2006 by John Whiting (log)

[Adam Balic]

True enough, Boston baked beans isn't a million miles from cassoulet.

[Culinista]

Cassoulet is too useful a dish to be monopolized by gourmets.

I consider "gourmet" to be someone who cares about food enough to care that it's done well. I wouldn't want a cassoulet made by a non-gourmet, and if the level of discussion is any indication, everybody here qualifies as gourmets. Part of the fun of being a fanatic is splitting hairs over arcane doctrine.

But I draw the line at Boston baked beans. What will ya'll appropriate next, Texas chili?

[John Whiting]

True enough, Boston baked beans isn't a million miles from cassoulet.

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You may be even closer than you think. As Ptipois correctly observed, the essential minimum for a cassoulet is beans and fatty pork with skin. This is also the case with Boston baked beans, with the added distinguishing ingredient of molasses. Like the Jewish cholent, the slow-cooked Boston baked beans were used as a means of avoiding work on the sabbath; and, like the cassoulet, the pot was often baked in the communal oven and delivered by the baker on Saturday evening or Sunday morning along with some brown bread. (Source: The American Heritage Cookbook)

[Adam Balic]

Nah, I knew that . Heinz BB originally contained a chunk of pork in each can, there is also a Lakeland "Butterbean hotpot" which contains bacon, treacle and brown sugar. Essentially, long slowly cooked bean with cured pork dishes have emerged in many locations as it is an obvious consequence of the ingredients.

One thing. Fresh pork products is likely to a more recent addition, as killing of pigs was a seasonal activity.

[Adam Balic]

Just for the hell of it I made the Khirino khoriatiko Greek pork and bean casserole. As you can see it is quite similar to a cassoulet really. This recipe is based on the one given by Rosemary Barron, but departs from it in several ways.

The beans. Gigante from Greece and Scarlet Runners from Vienna, that later isn't traditional, but I had them in the pantry.

Carrot, onion, celery and dried ham are cooked together in lard/olive oil then tomato paste is added. After the TP looses it's rawness, red wine, stock, herbs, spices and the beans, pork and lamb are added. Also added was some dried salted pork skin and a ham joint (both from Spain, not traditional).

Bloody beans must have been old as they took six hours to cook. As people were coming around to eat the dish, this caused some nervous moments.

These are various sausages that I have made over the last few months. These are cooked seperately and mixed with the beans and other meats.

The last stage will be adding back the sauce, topping with bread crumbs and baking until the beans are soft and a crust forms.

The finished dish

[John Whiting]

To my taste, the color and texture looks just right. If it's not "authentic", I don't want to know about it!

[Adam Balic]

To my taste, the color and texture looks just right. If it's not "authentic", I don't want to know about it! 

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Sure it tasted fine, but I guess that point is that although this is a greek dish, it could just conceivably be from some hypothetical SW-French village and called cassoulet?

Rabelais - have found mention of a bean and bacon dish and olla podrida, but nothing like cassoulet (yet).

[Dave Hatfield]

Had Cassoulet for lunch yesterday at a local restaurant.

The menu was:

Homemade vegetable soup seved family style.

A Green salad with local dry ham & Emental cheese chunks.

The Cassoulet

A choice of desserts. I had a big piece of pear tart.

1/4 liter wine

Coffee.

The Cassoulet was a relatively simple one, but each person had a large piece of Toulouse sausage & a cuisse de confit de Camard. The beans were just right & laced with slivers of pork, a bit of tomato, lots of garlic & herbs.

Not a to die for Cassoulet, but very good as restaurant cassoulets go.

Prix fixe 11 Euros about $15.00.

[TarteTatin]

We'll be in Languedoc Christmas week, south of Montpellier.

Dave Hatfield has made some suggestions, as well as others, on the France site.

Can't wait to have the real Cassoulet!

We'll be closest to Carcassonne. Not Castelnaudry or Toulouse.

(each town claims to make the best Cassoulet)

Cassoulet at our house in Philly in February!

Will definitely look for the Tarbais beans to take home.

[ckruse]

I have had cassoulet in France on numerous occasions, so I was delighted when Ms. Woolfert's latest book offered a source for the required pot. I wondered if anybody knew of any others?. I already have a number of sources in France, so I am really looking for a US or Canadian source (preferably Quebec, since its close). R.S.V.P.

[Abra]

I'm getting Clay Coyote's cassole for Christmas - I'm thrilled!

[aliénor]

I have had cassoulet in France on numerous occasions, so I was delighted when Ms. Woolfert's latest book offered a source for the required pot.  I wondered if anybody knew of any others?.  I already have a number of sources in France, so I am really looking for a US or Canadian source (preferably Quebec, since its close).  R.S.V.P.

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i am a potter living in new hampshire and i am sure there are many pottersin the vicinity of underhill who would gladly make a cassole for you. just don't experct it ready for xmas. i know there is a group of potters in montpelier and in burlington and i think you should get in contact with them. if they can't do one they can probably recommend someone who could and who is willing to make it..

btw, my husband wants cassoulet badly but i have been too lazy to cook it for him. in two days we are off to nice, france to spend the holidays with our son and his family. they knew of their father's wishes and told me they are preparing an authentic toulouse cassolet for him. maybe that will get me off the hook

good luck,

alienor

[Dave Hatfield]

I'm probably a bit late here, but I'll post this anyway.

For an authentic cassole try here. They seem to have no problem shipping to the states & their prices seem reasonable.

As to the need for one I'm doubtful. Like Paula Wolfert I think any oven proof glazed clay pot with a wide open top will do the job. I happen to prefer one with a lid because I like to retain all of the moisture during the first cooking. I then take the lid off for all of the finishing & crust making. anyway...

I suspect that the cassole is indeed traditional if you are making a casoulette de Castelnaudry. As pointed out earlier you would take your dish to the boulanger for cooking in his bread oven. ( we could do this as recently as 3 years ago in our village. I never did it for a casoulette, but did for various daube's.)

In other places such as Toulouse & Carcassone As best I can tell other wide mouthed casseroles were used. Certainly I've rarely seen a cassole used further North.

I don't pretend to be a real expert, but I have been eating casoulette in France for slightly over 40 years so have a certain amount of experience. I've been making my own for over twenty years. And I've lived in SW France for the past nearly 6 years.

My proudest casoulette moment came last February when Marie-Therese, our village friend's 83 year old mother who speaks mostly occitan, not only praised my casoulette, but asked for the recipe! I was insufferably vain for weeks.

[ckruse]

I have had cassoulet in France on numerous occasions, so I was delighted when Ms. Woolfert's latest book offered a source for the required pot.  I wondered if anybody knew of any others?.  I already have a number of sources in France, so I am really looking for a US or Canadian source (preferably Quebec, since its close).  R.S.V.P.

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i am a potter living in new hampshire and i am sure there are many pottersin the vicinity of underhill who would gladly make a cassole for you. just don't experct it ready for xmas. i know there is a group of potters in montpelier and in burlington and i think you should get in contact with them. if they can't do one they can probably recommend someone who could and who is willing to make it..

btw, my husband wants cassoulet badly but i have been too lazy to cook it for him. in two days we are off to nice, france to spend the holidays with our son and his family. they knew of their father's wishes and told me they are preparing an authentic toulouse cassolet for him. maybe that will get me off the hook

good luck,

alienor

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If you could give me the name(s) of those potters in Vermont I would really appreciate it. Thank you

[plk]

Some in my clan might even prefer it that way!

[Chris Amirault]

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of the fantastic Clay Coyote cassole that I just got:

It's just a beautiful thing, and I'm dying to break it in with this week's cassoulet. I have a potentially dumb question, though, as this is my first piece of stoneware cooking: do I need to do anything save a good wash? Like, um, season it or something?

[Dave Hatfield]

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of the fantastic Clay Coyote cassole that I just got:

It's just a beautiful thing, and I'm dying to break it in with this week's cassoulet. I have a potentially dumb question, though, as this is my first piece of stoneware cooking: do I need to do anything save a good wash? Like, um, season it or something?

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Chris - It is indeed a beautiful thing. No 'seasoning' needed. Just use it as is.

Funny how things happen. As it turns out Linda & I are going down to Castelnaudry tomorrow to buy a Cassole. Its only about 2 hours away & besides Linda wants to stop at the Ikea in Toulouse which is on the way.

My excuse is that I'm cooking casoulette for 15 this Saturday lunch time. My faithful old green pot, big though it is, isn't large enough to cater for 15. Thus I have a good excuse to buy a cassole. Since I'm buying one I may as well go to the ancestral home thereof and get the real thing.

I'll now also be able to run an 'experiment' to see if there is a difference between the casoulette cooked in old faithful vs. the new cassole.

I'll try to take some pictures for posting. I want to do a pictorial version of my casoulette recipe anyway.

[Wolfert]

It's just a beautiful thing, and I'm dying to break it in with this week's cassoulet. I have a potentially dumb question, though, as this is my first piece of stoneware cooking: do I need to do anything save a good wash? Like, um, season it or something?

The clay coyote pot is fantastic looking. Since it is made of stoneware it doesn't need to be seasoned.