The story of a dish: cassoulet
We are in the heart of the 100 years war: France and England are fighting for 116 years. The challenge, on the French side, is to defend the throne of the views of the King of England. As the English are totally driven out of France in 1453, whew, we can keep our precious cassoulet in the French camp without having to share the secret across the Channel!
Because the origin of the cassoulet would go back to the seat of Castelnaudary: the soldiers, in search of their pittance, would have cooked, in a huge potée, beans dry and meat. The legend even whispers that, thanks to the energy found in this excellent stew, our soldiers would have defeated the enemy and liberated the city! The cassoulet then bears the name ofestofat.
In the XVIIe century, Arabs import beans in France. In this version of the facts, we should therefore our national cassoulet indirectly to the Arabs. But, fervent nationalist advocates assure that the bean was already grown in the southwest in the XIVe century. The housewives in the area simmered in the fireplace a large pot of beans in which they mingled the pieces of meat they could find: pork fat, rind, sausage, pork feet ...
Another version of the history of the bean ensures that it is by the grace of an Italian humanist, in the sixteenth century, that the first seeds of fagliolo (of beans come from Latin America) would have emerged in Europe and more particularly in the region of the Lower Rhone: they then bear the name of faiouls.
It is in the XVIIIe century that the cassoulet is baptized with its modern name: cacolet in Occitan. But in the XIXe century, all the cities seem to want to attribute their origin: Toulouse, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary, Narbonne, Pau, Montauban ... Each has the version of this tasty slow-cooking based on beans whites and meat.
Nowadays, cassoulet refers to a hotpot of beans whites and meat simmered in a pot of terracotta. In Carcassonne, a universal Cassoulet Academy carries high and proud promotion of this dish and a cassoulet route is proposed to be tasted in the best regional restaurants.
Our advice:
Cassoulet is a dish rich in fiber, slow sugars and proteins. It helps to defend the consumption of white beans that have become unpopular despite their nutritional qualities.
Because the origin of the cassoulet would go back to the seat of Castelnaudary: the soldiers, in search of their pittance, would have cooked, in a huge potée, beans dry and meat. The legend even whispers that, thanks to the energy found in this excellent stew, our soldiers would have defeated the enemy and liberated the city! The cassoulet then bears the name ofestofat.
In the XVIIe century, Arabs import beans in France. In this version of the facts, we should therefore our national cassoulet indirectly to the Arabs. But, fervent nationalist advocates assure that the bean was already grown in the southwest in the XIVe century. The housewives in the area simmered in the fireplace a large pot of beans in which they mingled the pieces of meat they could find: pork fat, rind, sausage, pork feet ...
Another version of the history of the bean ensures that it is by the grace of an Italian humanist, in the sixteenth century, that the first seeds of fagliolo (of beans come from Latin America) would have emerged in Europe and more particularly in the region of the Lower Rhone: they then bear the name of faiouls.
It is in the XVIIIe century that the cassoulet is baptized with its modern name: cacolet in Occitan. But in the XIXe century, all the cities seem to want to attribute their origin: Toulouse, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary, Narbonne, Pau, Montauban ... Each has the version of this tasty slow-cooking based on beans whites and meat.
Nowadays, cassoulet refers to a hotpot of beans whites and meat simmered in a pot of terracotta. In Carcassonne, a universal Cassoulet Academy carries high and proud promotion of this dish and a cassoulet route is proposed to be tasted in the best regional restaurants.
Our advice:
Cassoulet is a dish rich in fiber, slow sugars and proteins. It helps to defend the consumption of white beans that have become unpopular despite their nutritional qualities.
