CASSOULET

French dish of white beans baked with meats; it takes its name from its cooking pot, the cassole d'Issel. Originating in Languedoc in southwest France, cassoulet was once simple farmhouse fare, but it has been elaborated into a rich and complex dish. The basic cassoulet from the town of Castelnaudary adds to the beans fresh pork and ham plus tomatoes, garlic, onions, herbs, and stock; that of Carcassonne contains in addition mutton and partridges in season, while in Toulouse to the basic cassoulet are added duck or confit d'oie (pieces of goose poached and preserved in goose fat) and Toulouse sausage. Bread crumbs and goose fat form a crust on the top of the dish.