Seafood Cassoulet

The first time I saw a seafood cassoulet on a menu in France, I thought, here’s another nouvelle cuisine monstrosity. But I’ve since discovered that la morue aux haricots—salt cod with beans—is a traditional dish from Gascony. A number of French chefs have experimented with the idea, including my old boss, Claude Peyrot at the Paris restaurant Vivarois, who makes a cassoulet de lotte—monkfish cassoulet—by simmering the beans with aromatic vegetables and bacon and then combining them with lightly sautéed monkfish slices in miniature soup crocks, sprinkling each serving with bread crumbs and quickly browning the individual “cassoulets” under the broiler. The dish is good but the juxtaposition of pork and seafood has never appealed to me. In the traditional salt cod version, the cod is soaked to remove the salt and then simmered with the beans so the beans take on some of its character. I once tried to get the beans to take on the character of seafood by making a broth out of the fish bones and heads and using this broth to cook the beans. The result was disastrous—the beans just tasted fishy. I then experimented with mussels, lobsters, and crabs and discovered that I could lightly precook the shellfish, make a crustacean broth with the shells (in the same way as for lobster à la americaine), steam the mussels in white wine, and cook the beans in the combined liquids. This way, the beans themselves taste intensely like seafood instead of pork, yet they don’t taste fishy. Just before serving, I quickly combine the seafood with the beans, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and brown the “cassoulet” under the broiler before the shellfish has a chance to overcook. The finished dish is luxurious and a delight to look at.