[1] A hearty dish of cassoulet Bandol rouge. Bandol rouge is a red wine from Provence that pairs well with cassoulet (photo © Bar Boulud).

[2] Cassoulet is made easy with this meal kit from Williams Sonoma (photo © Williams-Sonoma.com).

[3] The original cassoulet pot shape, with slanted sides. It is the source of the word “casserole.” Here’s the detailed history of cassoulet (photo © French Country Food).

[4] The only bean to use for cassoulet: haricot blanc, more commonly known in the U.S. as the cannellini bean (photo © Tanya Shkondina | iStock).

[5] The hearty flavors of cassoulet pair with red wine (photo © Max Straeten |Morguefile).

There’s a blizzard covering the East Coast today, turning our thoughts to warm comfort food. How about a cassoulet?

If not today, January 9th is National Cassoulet Day (caa-soo-LAY).

Cassoulet (cass-oo-LAY, photo #1) originated* in the south of France, a balmy area that doesn’t have to deal with snow.

> The year’s 18+ soup and stew holidays.
 
 
CASSOULET HISTORY

According to French Country Food, the forerunner of modern cassoulet dates to the medieval period. A rustic dish, the stew that simmered for a long time over the fire.

Legend has it that during a siege of Castelnaudary, threatened with famine, the townspeople and peasants pooled what they had—bacon, pork, sausages and beans—to make a stew to feed the soldiers defending the city.

While many dishes evolve over time, today cassoulet remains a rich, slow-cooked casserole packed full of fatty meats: pork sausages, pork skin (rind), duck or goose, and other meats, such as mutton.

Then there are the beans. For the past few centuries this has meant white beans (haricots blancs, or cannellini in Italian, photo #3)—never substitutes.

The original beans, however, were broad beans (fava beans). That’s because the genus of beans to which haricots blancs belong is a New World variety. It wasn’t until the 16th century that the beans were brought back to Europe from Mexico and Peru.

The Difference Between Cassoulet & Stew

The dish was simply another stew recipe until the first commercial production started in Castelnaudary, in 1836 (the town claims to have originated the recipe for cassoulet).

But it’s not just any meat-and-vegetable stew. It’s specifically a rich, hearty French stew made with white beans, sausage, pork, and often duck confit.

It’s a specific kind of French stew that’s slow-cooked, resulting in a thick, rich consistency.
 
 
IT GAVE ITS NAME TO ALL SUBSEQUENT CASSEROLES

The dish used to slow-cook cassoulet is named after its traditional cooking vessel, a deep, round, earthenware casserole dish with slanting sides—i.e., the cassoulet.

The three main towns of the Languedoc† have their own variation on the meats in the recipe.

 
In recent times, some cooks have exchanged the fatty meats for chicken or salmon, and cooks have added their own touches: breadcrumb topping, for example, more root vegetables to increase the vegetable balance, or using only duck meat.

You can find many cassoulet recipes online; here are a few.
 
 
CASSOULET RECIPES

 
 
DON’T WANT TO MAKE CASSOULET?
TRY THIS TASTY CANNELLINI RECIPE.

This Florentine recipe is by Judy Witts Francini of Divina Cucina.com. It was sent to us by Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Food, one of America’s bean experts and purveyor of the finest artisan beans.

You can make a large amount of beans, then portion them and freeze them in plastic freezer bags. Add them to add to soups; use them as a base or side for dinner; or serve as a side with breakfast eggs. Beans are great protein, packed with nutrients.

Tip: Spread the roasted garlic cloves on toast.
 
 
TITO’S OVEN-ROASTED BEANS BY JUDY WITTS FRANCINI

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE all the ingredients except the salt in the baking dish; cook at 350°F until the beans are tender. Depending on the beans, this can take 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Stir the beans once or twice during the cooking time.

The olive oil will create a crust on the top layer of beans. This adds some texture, much like cassoulet. But it can also dry that top layer, which is why you want to stir.

2. SALT the beans at the end of the cooking time, and serve.

*Many cuisines have similar recipes, slow-cooking beans and meats in a covered vessel.

†Languedoc-Roussillon was a former province in the south of France; its capital city was Toulouse. In January 2016, the former French regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées were combined into the new region of Occitanie, named after the historical region of Occitania.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

January 3rd is National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day.

Here’s a history of the popular bonbon, adapted from an article by Esther Martin-Ullrich which appeared in Candy Favorites.

Chocolate-covered cherries, more formally called cherry cordials, are a chocolate shell filled with a cherry and sugar syrup, plain or flavored with alcohol.

> The year’s 15+ cherry holidays.

> The year’s 69 chocolate holidays.
 
 
IT BEGAN WITH THE CORDIAL

The word “cordial” derives from the Latin “cor,” heart, and referred to a medicinal tonic, which was believed to stimulate the heart and improve circulation.

This medicinal use of the cordial continued through the 1400s, when it arrived in England. There, cordials were taken after a big meal to settle the stomach and aide digestion.
 
THE BIRTH OF CHOCOLATE-COVERED CHERRIES

Cross back over to France: In the 1700s, a confection called griottes (gree-OAT) appeared in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Cherries were a local crop, and long-stemmed sour griotte cherries were enrobed in chocolate with some of the local kirsch (cherry brandy).

The concept was brought to America, where the term “cordial” was used to describe a particular type of strong liqueur. It was made by crushing whole cherries, including the pits, and steeping them in a sugar syrup with a bit of alcohol.

The mixture was strained to become a sweet, thick, syrupy alcohol with a strong fruity flavor. Intense and very sweet, it was used (as grenadine is today) to make a mixed drink, or sipped in small amounts as an after-dinner beverage.

However, chocolate lovers were not to be disappointed.
 
CHOCOLATE CHERRIES IN AMERICA

Liqueur chocolate cherries, like those made in France, became a popular treat in America. While cordial candies could be made with other fruits, cherries were—and continue to be—the most popular.

[2] Homemade chocolate-covered cherries from Taste Of Home.

As the concept evolved, varieties were made without liqueur, substituting a sugar syrup flavored with cherries, similar to modern chocolate-covered maraschino cherries. The pitted cherries were cooked in sugar syrup instead of alcohol.

Today’s chocolate-covered cherries can be made:

 
It’s your turn: Go out and find some chocolate-covered cherries to celebrate.
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[2] Prefer green tea? Compare different brands of Dragon Well, Gyokuro, Sencha, etc. (photo courtesy Kanaya Tea).

[3] The winner of our first round (photo courtesy Harney & Sons).

Cold enough for you? There’s a reason that January is National Hot Tea Month.

How about a nice cup of tea? Tea Association of the USA shares expert information for making that perfect cup of tea.

4 RULES FOR A PERFECT CUP OF TEA

The Association’s Four Golden Rules for a delicious cup of hot tea:

 
For the best flavor, preheat the teapot with a little hot water prior to use, and cover your teapot with a cozy (or a tea towel) to retain heat during the brewing process.

While guidelines are provided, you can adjust the time, temperature and amount of tea until you find your perfect pot.
 
SPECIAL GUIDELINES FOR GREEN TEA

 
SPECIAL GUIDELINES FOR OOLONG & WHITE TEA

For oolongs and white teas, use water that’s between 180°-190°F. The larger and more delicate the leaf, the lower the water temperature should be. While black teas need much hotter water for proper extraction, boiling water will scorch a delicate white tea leaf.

Oolongs need to steep a bit longer than white tea: Steep oolong for 5-7 minutes and white tea for 3-4 minutes. As with black and green teas, you can modify the times according to your own personal tastes.
 
 
FOOD FUN: HAVE A TEA TASTING

That’s what we did on New Year’s Day. We gathered 12 brands of English Breakfast* tea (use whatever style you like) for a three-part tasting:

We tasted four of the teas, first black, then with milk or whatever addition the taster liked.

We’ll be tasting the next four this weekend at brunch, the final four the following week. We’ll culminate with a taste-off among the three group “winners.”

It’s fun, and it lets us make the best purchasing decision [for us], going forward.

 
VISIT OUR TEA GLOSSARY & TEA INDEX FOR MORE ABOUT TEA.
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*Note that English Breakfast is a blend of different teas, and each manufacturer has its own “recipe.” The same is true with flavored teas, like Earl Grey. With single-origin teas such as Assam, Ceylon or Darjeeling, you get the pure tea and can more easily compare quality.