Jewish Invention Myths: Cassoulet

One of the most iconic – and best loved – dishes in French cuisine is cassoulet which is essentially a stew using beans and various meats to create a hearty but relatively healthy dish.

Naturally jews have claimed that its origin is jewish and to be found in the similar jewish dish called cholent which is what is called a ‘Sabbath Stew’ – i.e., food that could be produced before and eaten on the Sabbath – with Gil Marks claiming that:

‘Although the French are loath to admit it, the classic Southern French dish cassoulet is most certainly a descendant of the Jewish schalet.’ (1)

Schalet is a Franco-German word for cholent in case you are confused by Marks’ wording with a variant claim offered by Victor Schoenfeld which merely vaguely claims their histories are ‘intermingled’. (2)

Naturally most other food historians have called horseshit on these jewish claims as Joel Haber – for example – arguing that cassoulet and cholent are not connected at all and if anything, parallel culinary developments. (3)

Similarly, John Cooper notes that cholent – as usually understood - didn’t start out as a jewish dish at all but rather come the medieval French dish frumenty and the similarly medieval Spanish dish called olla podrida. (4) These in turn almost certainly come from a medieval North African dish called adafina. (5)

Indeed as the ‘Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet de Castelnaudary’ explain on their website:

‘The origins of cassoulet date back to the medieval period. It was then referred to as a stew, a meat dish in sauce that simmered for a long time over a fire. A major cookbook marked the 14th century: "Le Viandier" (The Viandier) written by Taillevant, whose real name was Guillaume Tirel, who was the cook for several kings for 60 years. In his book, Taillevant gave pride of place to pâtés and stews, including mutton and pork stew with broad beans.

Culinary historians believe that Taillevant may have been inspired by an Arabic work written by Mohamed of Baghdad in 1226, which reveals an extremely refined cuisine. This work calls for a display of spices, herbs, legumes, and mutton. Some historians believe that the origins of cassoulet are Arabic. It is said that they introduced the cultivation of a white bean to the south of France in the 7th century and taught the locals how to prepare this legume. Mutton stew with white beans is among the recipes in the Baghdad Treatise on Cuisine. Taillevant included this recipe in his Viandier.’ (6)

This is similarly echoed by Rebecca Rupp among others (7) but the general point is simple enough: there is no evidence that cassoulet’s origins lie in the jewish dish cholent rather it is the other way around. Cassoulet is either a Franco-Spanish with distinctly European origins or a French dish inspired by North African Arab cuisine.

So no jews did not invent cassoulet!

References

(1) https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-secret-jewish-history-of-cassoulet/

(2) https://www.thejewishstar.com/stories/as-cassoulet-cholent-moves-beyond-shabbos,5621

(3) https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-secret-jewish-history-of-cassoulet/

(4) John Cooper, 1993, ’Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food’, 1st Edition, Jason Aronson: Northvale, p. 103

(5) Ibid., p. 105

(6) https://www.confrerieducassoulet.com/l-histoire.html

(7) Rebecca Rupp, 2011, ‘How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories’, 1st Edition, Storey: Pownal, pp. 40-41