A Cassoulet Question

I was looking at some stats from my account this morning and noticed that someone stumbled across my Flickr page while searching for a recipe for Vegetarian Cassoulet.

Vegetarian Cassoulet?

Ok, so I have to ask the question: how can such a thing exist?

Isn't the very essence, the very soul of Cassoulet the beans and the meat, be it duck, goose, pork or lamb, cooked slowly together in a cassole until thick, rich and bubbly?
Beans can also be cooked slowly, with vegetables, until thick, rich and bubbly (a dish I love, by the way). That is called Bean Stew. Not Cassoulet. And not vegetarian Cassoulet.

Yes, you can argue that it is a question of semantics. But I believe that the tradition of dishes like Cassoulet should be respected.

No Meat = No Cassoulet


I'm just saying.


confit de canard, pancetta, sausages, couenne (pork rind) for the Cassoulet


confit de canard


two variations - one to cook over the fire and one to go into the oven


links:
The Cassoulet recipe from Camp Cassoulet at Kate Hill's home in Gascony.
A Toulouse Style Cassoulet recipe from Paula Wolfert.