André Daguin’s Fava Bean Cassoulet

Name: André Daguin’s Fava Bean Cassoulet (Cassoulet de Fèves)
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 4 confit of Pekin or Muscovy duck legs (such as Duck Legs Confit Cooked in a Pouch) or 2 confit of Moulard duck legs, drumsticks and thighs separated; 1½ pounds ventrèche or pancetta, cut into ½-inch dice; 6 ounces fresh pork skin with¼-inch layer of hard fat attached, or substitute Confit of Pork Rinds; 2 pounds small white onions, peeled; Freshly ground pepper; 4 cups unsalted chicken stock (storebought or homemade); 1 leek, trimmed, well washed, and left whole; 1 tablespoon Sugar; 8 small celery ribs: 2 chopped, 6 tied in a bundle; 5 firm garlic cloves, peeled; 8 to 9 pounds fresh fava beans, in their pods (usually available starting in March)

Cassoulet de Fèves

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

The Cooking of South West France

By Paula Wolfert

Published 1987

About

According to robert courtine, the French food authority, before white beans were cultivated in France, fava beans were used to make this dish. The old name for the dish was fevolade. In effect, then, Daguin’s version is the “original” cassoulet.

This cassoulet is excellent reheated later in the day, or even the next day.

Ingredients

4 confit of Pekin or Muscovy duck legs (such as Duck Legs Confit Cooked in a Pouch) or 2 confit of Moulard duck legs, drumsticks and thighs separated
8 to 9 pounds

Method

To soften the confit fat remove from the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours in advance and let stand in a warm place or in a deep pan of warm water.
Shuck the beans; you should have about 2 quarts. Slip off and discard the heavy skin covering 1 cup of the favas; set the skinned beans apart. Cut off the tiny shoots on remaining beans, if old. (Because not all the favas are