D’Artagnan’s Annual Cassoulet War in NYC

In the Southwest of France, cassoulet is iconic, cherished, and controversial. This humble food of peasants—a thick stew made with white beans, pork, sausage, duck, gizzards—is the cause of much drama and debate. Why? The origin story places the first cassoulet in the besieged city of Castelnaudary during the Hundred Years' War. But every village in the area has a version of cassoulet, and each recipe is held as the one true cassoulet.   

Andre Daguin, a famous chef from Gascony, said, "Cassoulet is not really a recipe; it’s a way to argue among neighboring villages." Ariane Daguin, his daughter and the founder of D’Artagnan, brought the tradition of cassoulet to her customers in the United States, where it has gained immense popularity. The D’Artagnan website offers a best-selling recipe kit for home cooks to easily create an authentic version of the cassoulet from her region of France. 

The Battle Royale 

Much like chili cook-offs in Texas, cassoulet cooking competitions are held in France. In 2014, Ariane began an annual winter tradition: the D’Artagnan Cassoulet War in New York City.   

This epic event features 20+ chefs serving their unique version of cassoulet to a hungry crowd of about 300 guests. A panel of judges—all culinary experts—blind-taste each cassoulet and choose a victor in two categories: the truest and most traditional cassoulet and the most daring and inventive cassoulet. The guests taste as many cassoulets as they can and vote for The People’s Choice. 

The Judges   

Our panel of judges was selected by Ariane herself. Pictured above, from left to right, they are: Benjamin Bragard, CEO of Everyday Uniforms; Jean-Louis Dumonet, Master French chef; Cedric Fouriscot, Consul General of France in NY; Sara Moulton, chef, cookbook author, TV personality; Ariane Daguin; Laurent Tourondel, famous French chef; Nicole Peyrafitte, French-born chef and artist; Jaques Torres, master pastry chef & chocolatier; Elizabeth Falkner, acclaimed celebrity chef; Pierre Landet, chef and two-time Cassoulet War champion, now orchestrates all the chefs and their cassoulets in the hotel kitchen; Philippe Bertineau, Académie Universelle du Cassoulet. 

WINNER Most Traditional Cassoulet:

Eli Collins, A. Kitchen & Bar, Philadelphia, PA  

Eli Collins represented a.kitchen+bar and unseated two-time champion Benoit, a French restaurant in NYC!
His cassoulet was fragrant, well-seasoned, and filled with house-made charcuterie. Magnifique!  

WINNER Most Daring Cassoulet:

Anina Belle Giannini, Le Chef’s Wife, Washington, D.C.  

Anina made an unusual seafood cassoulet with lobster, squid, mussels, and octopus.

The lighter, brighter, and brinier cassoulet impressed the judges (and the rest of us). 

WINNER The People’s Choice:

Joseph Papach, The Harvey House, Madison, WI 

It was wonderful to see Joseph and Shaina Papach in NYC after we visited them last spring to film at their Madison restaurant.

They served a cassoulet that got an enormous number of votes from the guests.

Read more about their restaurant in our blog post here. 

The Beverages 

The best pairing for hearty cassoulet is a bottle of robust Madiran or Malbec from Southwest France. Our illustrious sponsor Wineberry provided just the right wines: Famille Laplace Madiran Sans Sulfites, Odé d’Aydi, CaracTerre Cahors, along with Samalens Armagnac XO. 

Celebrity mixologist François Morrison came back for his second Cassoulet War to rule the bar with two signature cocktails: Objectif Dune, a French riff on the classic “Blood and Sand” cocktail, made with cherry-infused Tchankat whiskey, Rectorie Voile d’Argile, byrrh and orange blossom, and Fleur d’Armagnac, an earthy and herbal variation on a Gascon Manhattan made with Samalens Armagnac (light foie gras wash), clarified fig, mint liqueur, and Angostura bitters. To see more about the beverages, click here. For the entire program with the lists of chefs, click here. 

Special thanks to our partners at Everyday Uniforms and Verterra.

However, the true winner of the night was Action Against Hunger, because we donated $10,000 in support of the global humanitarian organization.  Their Chef Ambassador, Morgan Jarrett, of State Grill and Bar, also served her own cassoulet.  

Postscript: For the first time, a chef dared to present a dessert cassoulet. Described as “An unsolicited sweet epilogue to a savory conflict,” it was a stunning combination of elements.  Elijah Pulley, C.E.C, Executive Chef of the Saddle and Cycle Club in Chicago, created a balanced dish with Toulouse sausage financier, Tarbais bean Bavarian cream, foie gras and Sauternes Anglaise, cardamom crumb, candied pork belly, lemon curd, and duck confit brittle. This controversial cassoulet inspired real debate among the judges, and Elizabeth Falkner (a frequent judge for the event) gave a shoutout to this sweet cassoulet that took them all by surprise.