Uncover the historical past of cassoulet – a bean and meat dish that’s an obsession in France, and a scrumptious and engaging story…
As struggle was raging across the city of Castelnaudary, the townspeople confronted hunger. The English surrounded them, the city’s troopers had been dwindling quick, and it regarded like this southwestern commune could be simply one other notch on English belts in what would develop into the Hundred Years’ Warfare (1337-1453). However the folks rallied. Gathering all they may discover – beans, bacon, sausages – every little thing was chucked right into a cauldron and simmered. This communal effort was rewarded, and the southwest’s most well-known dish was born. Because of this newly invented cassoulet, their revived vitality despatched the English packing! Defeat might wait one other day.
That is all based on legend anyway.
And is it any marvel {that a} dish of such extraordinary fortifying impact, a lot in order that it one way or the other prevented occupation, has gone down as the enduring style of southwest France? Little does it matter that this siege in all probability by no means occurred – the Black Prince (son of English King Edward III) led a bloodbath of Castelnaudary in 1355 – however legends have a sneaky manner of turning into reality. Particularly in the case of cultural identification.
For a meal that was apparently made throughout battle, the cassoulet is understandably modest; made in a conical clay pot referred to as a cassole, therefore the title cassoulet, filled with white beans and sure compulsory meats that should quantity to 30% of the elements. That is in accordance with the 1966 ruling of the Etats Généraux de Gastronomie Française, a high quality recognition board for French delicacies that evidently doesn’t take ldl cholesterol under consideration. These pivotal elements outline the terroir, however the cassoulet means rather more than a bowl of stodgy consolation meals.
The cult of Cassoulet
Throughout the partitions of Carcassonne, red-robed and hatted congregants meet, watching their latest initiates take their vows earlier than formally marking them as members by slipping ribboned amulets over their heads. We haven’t stumbled right into a witches’ coven, no, that is the Académie Universelle du Cassoulet. And that amulet is a miniature cassole.
Based by chef Jean-Claude Rodriguez in 1998, the Académie’s objective is to honour and promote ‘true’ cassoulet all over the world. To the Académie, canned ‘industrial’ cassoulet is sacrilegious, and the members have taken on a mission to uphold requirements and respect French custom. The 70 members gown in sweeping robes, has their very own cassoulet hymn, and their scripture is the work of French culinary grasp, Prosper Montagné.
His 1929 ebook “Le Festin Occitan” celebrates his Carcassonne roots and it was he who declared “God the daddy is the cassoulet of Castelnaudary, God the Son that of Carcassonne, and the Holy Spirit that of Toulouse,” confirming the three contenders of the unofficial cassoulet competitors, doctrine that the Académie nonetheless preaches.
But this holy trinity could also be a motive why cassoulet has gone down in historical past. Because the chef André Daguin as soon as mentioned, “Cassoulet isn’t actually a recipe, it’s a strategy to argue amongst neighbouring villages”.
The historical past of cassoulet
The ‘true’ cassoulet is continually up for debate, as every city has a distinct recipe of their possession. For instance, in Castelnaudary, the triumvirate of meat is duck confit, pork shoulder and sausage, whereas in Toulouse, it’s tweaked in order that the town’s personal Toulouse sausage is well known. In Carcassonne, it contains mutton or partridge relying on who you ask, and in the meantime every little thing you’ve simply learn is unsure as a result of no two sources can agree!
Totally different eating places inside metropolis partitions take their very own artistic inspiration. Some swear by a crumb topping whereas others declare it as heresy, and even the kind of beans could cause battle about whether or not it’s the Tarbais or flageolet bean. Understanding that different native cities declare it as their very own injects a way of possessiveness – often the honour of the cassoulet’s origins is bestowed on Castelnaudary, allegedly as a result of the city has little else to supply compared to its opponents, but it’s clear that this hasn’t put the dispute to relaxation. Castelnaudary’s La Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet – one other cassoulet brotherhood – has admitted how troublesome it’s to hint its origins “given the infected passions it provokes”.
Even so, clues have been traced – medical treatises, historic artefacts, and recipe books – again to the 14th century. The cooking tome “Le Viandier” by royal cook dinner of 60 years Guillaume Tirel honours stews and casseroles, together with one particularly that was of pork and beans. La Grande Confrérie suspects the affect of a medieval culinary work by Mohamed of Baghdad who created a spiced mutton and legume stew, which means that the cassoulet might be Arabic.
Nonetheless, whichever legumes had been used are not celebrated within the fashionable cassoulet as right this moment’s white beans had been shipped to Europe from the Americas by Christopher Colombus within the sixteenth century. The Queen of France, Catherine Medici, then launched this new ingredient and inspired its cultivation which was carried out within the southwest of France.
The seventeenth century was the Belle Epoque of French delicacies, but cassoulet (at the moment often known as ‘estouffat’) was the style of dwelling with housewives simmering the stew over the fireplace for hours at a time, slowly softening the beans so they may take in the meats’ fatty flavours. Quickly it was named after the pot it was cooked in, formally turning into the cassoulet. In 1836, the primary cassoulet manufacturing facility was opened: Maison Bouissou was established in Castelnaudary, making the city the epicentre of cassoulet manufacturing.
Occitanie could also be fractured due to the sheer number of ‘genuine’ cassoulets, however a matter every metropolis can agree on is that cassoulet is an event for a great outdated knees up. Toulouse’s Place du Capitole transforms right into a cassoulet banqueting venue each September for aficionados to feast and Castelnaudary celebrates with an annual Fête du Cassoulet – “5 days of cassoulet and music”, a motive to get together if ever there was one. As Jean-Claude Rodriguez says, “Cassoulet has such a faith… as a result of it’s the plat de partage… it’s Communion round a dish.”
Ally Mitchell is a blogger and freelance author, specialising in meals and recipes. Ally left the UK to dwell in Toulouse in 2021 and now writes about her new life in France on her meals weblog NigellaEatsEverything.
Recipe for Castelnaudary cassoulet
Recipe for Carcassonne cassoulet
Need extra France?
Uncover extra fabulous locations in France with our free journal The Good Life France
Love France? Have a take heed to our podcast – every little thing you need to learn about France and extra!
All rights reserved. This text might not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten (together with translated) or redistributed with out written permission.
