Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup! I’m so glad you’ve joined me today!
Here in northern California, the weather has turned gray and a little gloomy. We had a little rain last night and this morning, and while it’s not cold, there’s a crispness to the air that feels just right for early November. When the weather is like this, I always feel like settling in for a bowl of soup or stew.
Today, I thought I’d feature that most quintessential of French dishes, cassoulet.
What is cassoulet?
Well, that’s a good question, and apparently across France, great amounts of mental energy are expended debating who has the best and/or most authentic version of cassoulet. Much like the debate about whether bar-b-que should have a vinegar or tomato-based sauce or should be pork or beef or both, the French argue about what type of meat or beans should be included in cassoulet, and whether it should have a bread-crumb topping or not, as well as many other details.
Mostly, the dish includes some type of duck or goose meat, usually sausage and/or pork, and beans, though what kind of beans is hotly contested and can range from dried white beans to flageolet beans; however, apparently in the spring, all regions agree that fresh fava beans are the best choice and are required. Now…for those of you who read my two week review of “Fava Beans, Friend or For?”, you know that the jury is out about whether or not I would ever use fava beans…in anything…and I’ll leave it at that 😉
Fava beans notwithstanding, I do love to make a big pot of cassoulet, which only gets better after a couple of days as leftovers, as the flavors have a chance to meld together and the consistency gets creamier and silkier.
As I was doing a little reading up on cassoulet for this article, I learned that the official legend of the origins of cassoulet are very “stone soupian” in nature. Legend has it that during the hundred years war (the mid 1300’s-mid 1400’s), the French town of Castelnaudary was under siege by the British. The French soldiers were tired, hungry, cold and running out of food. In true stone soup fashion, the townsfolk came together and brought their bits of meat, beans and vegetables together and made a hearty stew that was satisfying, comforting and nourishing. They shared this communal meal, and thus fortified, those tired soldiers rallied and defeated the madding hoards of British soldiers, thus saving the town from the invaders. What a great story, right? Communal food saved the day! I LOVE that!!
Whatever its origins, the dish is alive and well in France and indeed all over the world today and we all have our different versions of this classic and comforting stew. Mine is quite easy to put together and uses ingredients that are generally easily obtained either at the grocery store or via delivery.
I hope you enjoy making my cassoulet! Tune in later in the week when I’ll have a product review of a French skillet and recipes for a couple of pretty special dishes involving puff pastry–should be another fun week!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
