Castelnaudary – Fête du Cassoulet 17-21 August 2022

Castelnaudary, home of cassoulet, a dish which according to legend was invented during the Hundred Years’ War. More certainly, it was first canned in 1836, a technological innovation which allowed this iconic dish to travel to kitchens and dining tables across France and around the world.*

​Castelnaudary, county town of Catherine de Medici who encouraged her peasants to plant a new type of bean imported from the Americas in the 16th century. Today, Le Haricot de Castelnaudary enjoys Protected Geographical Indication status and it is an essential ingredient of any authentic cassoulet.

​Castelnaudary, home to one of the main ports on the Canal du Midi, the perfect starting point for a cruise up or down the oldest working canal in the world. You can see part of the port’s basin in the first photo, just behind the pizza machine, an astonishing innovation which only the other day caused me to slam on my brakes and reach for my camera.

This shiny new contraption is one of several which has recently appeared in Castelnaudary. For those who know France well, this will come as no surprise. In most towns, the number of places where you can buy a pizza is exceeded only by the number of places where you can have a haircut. In Castelnaudary, cassoulet is still king – at least for the moment. During this weekend’s festival, the urban air will be filled with the rich smell of pork and beans cooking slowly in a traditional cassole.

* The information in this post is sourced from my book: ‘Menu from the Midi’

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