Cassoulet

A cassoulet is one of France most popular dishes! It is a French stew that is a rich, slow cooked casserole containing meat, pork, white beans. It originated in southern France in the region of Languedoc. It was named after the dish it is cooked in called a cassole, typically a clay pot.  The history of a cassoulet is quite interesting. Like most popular French food, this dish was a dish made for peasants. It was a simple dish, made of ingredients they had on hand. It is typically made with cheaper cuts of meat, beans that were cheap, stewed together for a long time to make them more palatable. Many of the meats used in this dish were cheaper cuts like duck leg, gizzards, pork fat, sausage. Ingredients vary from town to town based on what is regionally available. In Castelnaudary it is prepared with duck confit, pork shoulder and sausage. In Carcassonne it is prepared with mutton. In Toulouse, it is often prepared with duck confit, sausage and bread crumbs. In Auch, typically only duck or goose is used, crumbs are never added. You could essentially make it with any meats you like! Julia Child infamously described it as "Cassoulet, that best of bean feasts, is everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome, though its ideal consumer is a 300-pound blocking back who has been splitting firewood nonstop for the last twelve hours on a subzero day in Manitoba." Even though it does take a long time to make, and days of prep, it is absolutely worth making at least once in your life, and is a showstopper!

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet