Cassoles and the Cult of Cassoulet

I fell into making cassoles by accident. I had never eaten cassoulet, a traditional French peasant dish made up of beans and meat, when in 1998 I got a call from Philippe Jeanty of Bistro Jeanty. He was looking for a potter to make a special bowl for the cassoulet on the menu of his Yountville restaurant. He lent me a traditional country pot from France, earthenware, with a simple flair, a little spout and handles on either side. I love folk pottery and consider myself a folk potter, so I made him a prototype. He was very particular about every little angle and flair, but finally ordered a couple of dozen. With that my cassole making career was launched! I enjoyed many a cassoulet lunch dropping off an order at Bistro Jeanty! Photo below is BJ Cassoulet:

After a few years of supplying BistroJeanty with cassoles, I started to get requests from people, fans of cassoulet, who had ordered the cassoulet and noticed the bowls. One evening I had a message on my voicemail from Michael Mondavi, who was appreciating his cassoulet experience at BJ! I was pleasantly surprised at how this clay vessel was of great importance to these gastronomiques! I set to work, developing a series of cassoles in various sizes to feed from one to fifteen people.

Twenty plus years later from those first Bistro Jeanty prototypes, I now make and sell dozens of cassoles every year, shipping them all over the continental US. Sometimes I communicate with my customers and they tell me about their particular interpretation of the dish, sending me pictures of their cassoulet creations. I love seeing them and catching glimpses of their kitchens. Many of these customer photos are featured on my Cassoulet Page, in a section called “In The Wild”. Here are the most recent:

What is it about cassoulet that makes it an obsession….even a cult, without the supreme leader! The dish has devoted followers who have very definite opinions about beans (tarbais? Rancho Gordo ? homegrown?) sausage, (Toulouse? local favorite?) duck confit, and pork belly. One customer told me about how he makes his duck confit in 3 hours, another starts it a week ahead of time. Bread crumbs on top? Jamais! The cassole is shaped the way it is, with a wide top diameter, to allow for the crispy crust of beans and grease to develop. Cassoulet is something to nurture, to baby along, to test with tiny nibbles and give it a little more time. Every one of those cassoulet pictured above has a unique story, one that is hopefully about comfort and happiness. A recent new customer told me that the last time he made cassoulet it was terrible, so he bought my cassoles hoping for a better outcome. The pressure is on….but many do swear by baking in clay.

When this damn pandemic is over, I’m going to have the biggest cassoulet party ever!! Here I am with a freshly thrown XL plus size cassole. Until then, if you want to try out a recipe I have some here on my cassoulet page . I even have a veggie version, with greens and mushrooms replacing the meat. Experiment! Improvise! Enjoy.

This succulent goodness was THE BEST cassoulet, made by Chef Paul at Reve Bistro in Lafayette, Ca. Reve is doing take out during this difficult time, and they wanted to offer their cassoulet in an authentic bowl, (made by moi!) rather than a flimsy take out container. It’s not on the regular menu, so sign up on their mailing list to get notified about when it is offered. You will have the option of ordering it in a Crockett Pottery cassole!!