6 November - Cassoulet

Fred cooked again today - the dish was Cassoulet.  Cassoulet has a long history in France.  It is a typical country dish of the Languedoc region, in southern France.  Some sources say it dates back to 1335.  It is prepared with white beans and various sausages, and usually includes duck (confit de canard), which is slow roasted duck preserved in it's own fat.  


Fred had cassoulet one day in Albi 10 years ago and quickly became a convert.  He has learned to make it at home, substituting dark meat chicken or turkey for the confit de canard, which we cannot buy at home. The history I read today says the "stew" is cooked for hours in a  cone-shaped pottery vessel.  The recipe Fred has adapted says cook it all together, then put break crumbs on top and set in the oven at very low heat, then go for a very long walk.  One french cookbook says a film develops over the cassoulet while it cooks and that film must be "broken" seven times.  Other "requirements":  The water used to cook the beans should be hard, allowing the beans to hold their shape. 


There are as many ways to make cassoulet as there are small villages in France.  Some of the legendary cassoulets are said to originate in Carcassonne, Castelnaudary, and Toulouse.  This is a photo of the "real" cassoulet dish:

Cassoulet Dish with Cassoulet

At home we make cassoulet in a small iron skillet, cooking it first on top of the stove, then in the oven in the same skillet.  Here we don't have either a "real" cassoulet dish, nor an iron skillet, so we gave it our best shot in a glass casserole.  We did not cook it quite as long either, so it was a bit soupy, but the taste was great!  These photos are our version here in our rented kitchen in France.  Sorry, forgot to get the camera out until we had dished up our first portions.

Cassoulet at home

Duck from the cassoulet