Cassoulet

Those of you who read Lostpastremembered regularly know that I love my neighbors at D’Artagnan  (yes, that means you Lily Hodge and Katie Holler!).  They have been my salvation for a million necessary delights to do wild and esoteric antique game dishes.  One of the many perks of this relationship is leftovers.  After I made pheasant under glass, I had most of the rest of a pheasant ready to throw into something.  Given Ariane Daguin’s (founder of D’Artagnan)  Gascon heritage, it seemed only fair to use my bounty to make one of my favorite dishes for winter -- cassoulet! I got a few confit duck legs from them, some duck fat and wild boar sausage added ham shank and made a spectacular cassoulet…. the second of the season (ok, I love cassoulet and the first went so fast… it was inhaled by the male diners!).  The best part about cassoulet is that you can play with the ingredients and add different sausages or meats and make the dish your own.

May I add, should you want to get all of the makings for a cassoulet in one gorgeous package, D’Artagnan is featuring their Cassoulet Recipe Kit  at a reduced price till Jan 10, 2011 to celebrate National Bean Day (Jan 6)…it’s an insanely great deal!   

Of course,  I couldn’t write about cassoulet without a little bit of history, could I????  Jeff Iverson  at Time Magazine wrote a whole article about it because, well, let’s face it -- the dish has both fascinating roots and rabid partisans.  There are as many recipes for the dish as inhabitants of the Languedoc, I reckon.  D’Artagnan founder Ariane Daguin’s dad, the famous chef Andre Daguin, has a spectacular version that is in Paula Wolfert’s book,  The Cooking of Southwest France : Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine

It is made with fava beans instead of the tarbais white bean that is today’s classic bean for the dish.  I am dying to make it in spring when the fava beans return-- I read favas were the original bean component of the dish as the tarbais style bean didn’t arrive from South America till the 16^th century – in fact, it was called fevolade before it was cassoulet!). 

Iverson said: “Natives of southwestern France's Languedoc region link their very cultural identity to the archetypical peasant dish, a rich, earthy casserole of beans, meat and herbs. Cassoulet is said to date back to the 14th century siege of Castelnaudary during the Hundred Years' War, when citizens created a communal dish so hearty their revivified soldiers sent the invaders packing. But since then several cities have laid claim to the true recipe.”

Michael Balter in an article in the more familiar territory of Saveur Magazine said: “Traditionally, each of these towns has its own version of the dish, though it is generally acknowledged that cassoulet had its beginnings in Castelnaudary."

Castelnaudary

"Convention has it that the cassoulet of Castelnaudary is based largely on pork and pork rind, sausage, and (sometimes) goose; the Carcassonne variety contains leg of mutton and (occasionally) partridge; and the cassoulet of Toulouse includes fresh lard, mutton, local Toulouse sausage, and duck or goose. Prosper Montagné, a celebrated turn-of-the-century French chef, wrote that cassoulet was the "God" of Occitan—southern French—cuisine, with three incarnations: "God the Father, which is the cassoulet of Castelnaudary; God the Son, which is that of Carcassonne; and the Holy Spirit, which is that of Toulouse."  Prosper was very diplomatic, but his descriptions really make me want to try them all!

Although I admit to making my cassoulet in a giant vintage Dru pot (Julia Child used them on her older shows… blue with little tulips on the side), supposedly the true cassoulet cannot be achieved without a cassole.

The idea of the dish is simple, a wider mouth allows for more surface area for the brown crusty top, and the spout allows you to pour off any superfluous fat that may have accumulated.  The king of cassole makers is Poterie Not Frères near the village of Mas-Saintes-Puelles.  They make them with Issel clay in an oven that was built in 1830. The cassole was first made in Issel, a village north of Castelnaudary hundreds of years ago.

 

Poterie Not Frères pottery photo from Kate Hill

Now the Not family are the only remaining artisanal manufacturers of cassoles in the area and the magnificent Kate Hill of Camont: Kate Hill's Gascon Kitchen recommends and uses them for her weekend cassoulet class in France (you can find out how to do that HERE). I can only imagine how much fun that would be.

Kate Hill’s Cassole

Kate also sells these beauties at her place in Gascony, France should you be in the neighborhood.  You can get a small version of them in the USA online HERE (unfortunately, they are out of stock at the moment!) .

or stop in at the charming shop, La Fanion in NYC (if you are in my neck of the woods)  to pick up a slightly less tapered version (they go from $78-$198 for a giant feed-an-army size). There is an American made version (to Wolfert's specs) HERE. Whatever you choose as a vessel for your cassoulet, it is all about the flavor and that is in this recipe in spades!

Jean-Claude Rodriguez, founder of Académie Universelle du Cassoulet (a group of chefs dedicated to keeping up cassoulet standards) told Iverson "Cassoulet has such a religion around it because it's the plat de partage — the dish of sharing," he says. "When a cassoulet arrives at the table, bubbling with aromas, something magical happens — it's Communion around a dish."  

My Favorite Cassoulet,  serves 6-8

1/3 pound smoked ham, cut into chunks  (if no ham shank, use 1 pound of ham)

1 smoked ham shank from Flying Pigs Farm 

1 pound of dry tarbais beans, cooked thoroughly or 3 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 pieces good smoky bacon, roughly chopped

1/3 cup D'Artagnan duck fat  

1 large carrot

1 medium onion, diced

1 leek

1/2 head of garlic, sliced plus 2 small garlic cloves, peeled and pressed

3 T tomato paste

1 quart chicken broth (plus one cup if cassoulet gets too thick)

sprig of thyme, sage and rosemary and marjoram if your can get it

4 D'Artagnan duck confit legs (or 2 with 2 pheasant legs)
1 lb wild boar sausage, skinned, sliced  (although it is traditionally made with French Garlic Sausage

2 T butter

1 ½ - 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (depending on the diameter of your dish you may want more or less)

*Bread crumbs are optional... some purists do not use breadcrumbs and prefer the darkened crust that forms on the top, breaking it while cooking so that more will form.

Sauté the bacon, add the vegetables, garlic and the duck fat and cook for a few moments.   Add tomato and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 1quart broth & herbs, beans and ham and shank.  Cover the casserole and gently simmer the ragout over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Remove the skin from the pheasant and duck legs and reduce all skin and fat to crisps and put the crisps to the side.  Shred the duck meat and add to the pot.  Save the fat in the pan.

Add the sausages and cook over moderately high heat until browned all over and add to the pot. Cook for 1½ hours. Take the meat off the ham bone and return to the pot.

Gently stir the cassoulet.  If it seems too thick, add the extra stock.  You can add the skin crisps now or save them to serve with the cassoulet.  Take the breadcrumbs and crushed garlic and toss in the reserved duck fat.  Add 2 T butter to the mix.  Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the surface of the cassoulet. Bake the cassoulet for 1 ½ hours longer, until it is richly browned on the surface. Ariane Daguin recommends serving it bubbling hot for the best flavor. and aroma.

Thanks to Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday!!