Cassoulet

Cassoulet (Pays D'OC caçolet) is a speciality of the region of Languedoc and named after the clay stew-pot in which it is made. It is possibly related to cocido in Spain. Cocido is said to have originated from the Jewish and Muslim tradition of preparing food the a day or two previously in order to rest on the Sabbath. The pork was reputedly substituted as demonstration of Christian fidelity after the "reconquest".
Ingredients
- 500 g (about 1 lb) dried white haricot/navy beans
- Cumin
- 1 pig ear or pork rind (optional)
- 1 kg (about 2 lb) mixture of duck or goose meat, Toulouse sausages (strong garlic sausage), pork, and/or mutton
- Duck fat, goose fat, or olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- Stock or white wine
- Bouquet garni
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cloves
- Juniper berries
- Water or stock
Steps
- Blanch beans in plenty of boiling water for a few minutes. Transfer to cold water seasoned with cumin.
- Drain beans. Reserve.
- Sear meat in a pan with duck or goose fat, browning only the outside. Remove and reserve.
- Sauté onion in the same pan until golden or dark brown. Set aside.
- Discard residual fat from the pan. Deglaze with stock or white wine. Reserve the liquid.
- Layer beans, meat, cooked onion, garlic cloves, bouquet garni and juniper berries in a casserole dish. Add deglazing liquid and enough boiling salted water to cover beans by about an inch.
- Bake at 90 °C (195°F) for about 4½ hours. Add boiling water if necessary. Done when a light crust has formed and beans are tender with all water absorbed.
- Stand about 1 hour. Serve.
Notes from the original
- If kept cool, cassoulet may be reheated next day, but thereafter is likely to go sour.
- The meats used can also include confits of pork, cheap canned pork, pig's trotters, cured sausages, and/or green bacon.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Cassoulet” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-08-28, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Cassoulet.cuit.jpg by GD. Guilhem06 21:37, 20 April 2007 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






