Saturday, February 25, 2012

But not to die for ...

... A Cassoulet Worth Fighting Over - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

So delicious was their creation—named after cassole, the glazed earthenware pot in which it was cooked—that the townsfolk of Castelnaudary quickly deployed their renewed strength. Their mission was not to defeat the Black Prince, who went on to take their king prisoner at Poitiers, but instead to do battle with their compatriots in Toulouse and Carcassonne who had appropriated the recipe and, they believed, were ruinously altering it. Some fought for the inclusion of mutton, others for goose, still others for duck. When the people of Toulouse threw tomatoes in the mix, shouts of "Quelle sacrilège!" could be heard echoing throughout the countryside. Tempers, feuds—and stews—simmered for the next 600 years. And then, in 1970, Castelnaudary created La Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet, a brotherhood to defend their pride and tomato-, confit- and mutton-free glory.

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