Clay off clay

originally posted by Lou Kessler:

I mentioned your suggestion to BL and she brought the subject up to Hugh Carpenter and Janet Fletcher two friends that have attended a cassoulet dinner here for many years. They both were of the opinion that this advice had come from obvious newbies when it came to creating a proper cassoulet and begged Bl to ignore their advice.
If you are not aware of the background of the two individuals mentioned in the paragraph above you may Google their names.
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Now, hold on a sec, Lou. I am not in any way suggesting that a cassoulet made with fava beans will either look or taste the same as the cassoulets that BL and I make. What I am suggesting is that such a dish would be the historical antecedent of present-day cassoulet. It should taste good enough that people were motivated to continue making it, but culinary tastes can and do change over the centuries (witness our present-day aversion to pine pitch adulterated wine). If, on the other hand, your esteemed guests dispute the origins of cassoulet with the fava bean, I'd like to know what they suggest was used in the dish prior to the 16th Century when Europeans began to bring back phaseolus beans from the New World.

Mark Lipton
 
Paula Wolfert's book agrees that favas came first. She includes such a recipe from Andre Daguin. She claims Robert Courtine's "Grand Livre de la France a Table" as her source.

Some additional erudite discussion here.
 
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