CASSOULET

CASSOULET is a stew (or casserole) of meat and beans reputed to have originated in Castelnaudary in the Languedoc region of southern France. Most of the towns and cities along the route between Narbonne and Toulouse appear to have their own variations of the Cassoulet recipe. In truth virtually every person who makes Cassoulet has their own favourite variant.

While every Cassoulet should contain white haricot beans and sausage, most of the other ingredients are variable. Ideally the sausage should be Toulouse sausage, which has a good chunky meaty filling.

Other meat ingredients typically include a selection from pork, ham, lamb, chicken, duck, goose and goose fat. Some rarer Cassoulet recipes include snails.

Vegetables included are typically onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes and of course the haricot beans.

For some a Cassoulet is an economical meal made from off cuts and left overs, while others seek out the best ingredients they can lay their hands on.

The chosen Cassoulet ingredients simmer in stock (often chicken stock), in the cooking pot in the oven. Many Cassoulet connoisseurs maintain that a Cassoulet cooked slowly and then re-heated the day after it's first cooking, tastes better than a totally fresh one cooked quickly.

One tip for cooks is to grill the sausage before adding it to the Cassoulet. Uncooked sausage will tend to break up during the stewing process. Herbs such as cloves may also be added for additional flavour.

Cassoulets of varying quality can also be purchased ready made in tins, jars and sometimes in earthenware cooking pots.