January 9, 2026 • 34 mins
This ostensibly simple bean-and-meat stew inspires deep passions. Anney and Lauren dig into the contested history and vehement variations of cassoulet.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Any and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have
an episode for you about cassilet.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Oh yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, fun with pronunciation. You
took a lot of French. Was there any particular reason
this was on your mind, Laurd?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You know, it just feels like such a wonderful winter dish.
And I was kind of trying to balance these New year,
these like January episodes with a combination of like weird
health related subjects and just like nice comfy subjects.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, and this is I mean, I don't know that
I've ever had a castlelet no.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Oh my goodness. Oh they're so nice.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
They sound like a very comfy dish. I mean, I
feel like I've had something adjacent. I've definitely had something
in that ballpark, but I don't know if I've ever
actually had a castle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh, I recommend it really just really nice and like overall,
like I mean, like as long as you don't get
too caught up in it. More on that later, you
can absolutely make a similarc rum at home.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean it sounds like something I would absolutely
be into. I'm very very interested in pursue trying it. Yeah, yes, yes,
but I guess you've had it.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I have, I have.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's delightful. I can't even remember, but I but yep,
that's strongly believe that this was like it's something that
I have done known about. I guess just because of
like my adjacency to Lariu's gastronl meat. Maybe I'm not like,
(02:00):
I'm not sure, Like I like I kind of grew
up with like a sort of base of French cooking knowledge.
And yeah, maybe the last time I had it was
it some nice pub around Atlanta that enjoys doing things
like this.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I'm for some reason, brick store pub is coming
to mind, but I'm I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
You know, yeah, they seem like the type that would
do it. Yeah see that.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, we also do have a number of really nice
friend restaurants around town, so really good, cozy kind of places.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So yeah, yes, well, Lauren and I were discussing off Mike.
This is a very uh fun one in terms of
some drama.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Oh yes, strong opinions, very strong opinion. Yeah yeah, but
it's also a super fun one. It's got some because
all of those passions lead to a number of details
that I am bursting at the seams to tell you
all about. Oh, starting with okay, y'all, huh, oh my heck.
(03:05):
National Castle a Day here in the United States is
January ninth. That is the day that this episode is
coming out. And I understand that there is statistically like
a one in three hundred and sixty five chance that
that was going to happen sometime, but I had no idea,
and I'm so psyched.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
We've never done that before.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
No, we are precisely precisely on time and accidentally too.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, that's the only time when we are on time
is accidental in fact, or if.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
It's NERD related.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, right, right, sure we get very precise around May fourth.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yes, we do. Well, that's exciting. Oh goodness. Yeah, so
Happy Castle a Day. If you're listening to this, the
day comes out Happy Castle a Day. Oh, I'm just
gonna have to sit with this. I'm actually legitimately happy
about that. I like didn't write it into the outline
so that I could surprise you. Live, thank you, even
(04:11):
if I'm a little flustered or just like fruit and smilingness.
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I know I love it. I love a good surprise. Well,
I guess that does bring us to our question.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Sure sure. Castile At, what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, Casslet is a type of stew that can include
many things, but basically you're looking at a hearty dish
with like lots of big white beans and rich meats,
often a combination of some kind of poultry, some kind
of sausage, and some kind of smoke cured pork, all
slow cooked together with some aromatic vegetables and some like
(04:52):
warm and savory herbs and spices until the beans are
silky and this brown crust has formed at the top.
It's traditionally cooked in a round earthenware pot with like
a narrow base and a wider lip to get really
good crust formation, which you're supposed to encourage by like
pressing it down or like cracking it in places a
(05:13):
few times during cooking to allow some of the of
the liquid stew from beneath to bubble up and form
like a new layer up there. Castle At is heavy
and savory and usually a little smoky, and feels really
simple in like such a rich way. It's a stout
and sturdy kind of dish.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
A good. A good castle At.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Makes you remember the ache of winter in your bones
and reminds you that humanity has been fighting back that
cold together for millennia.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, it gave me very like I'll eat this and
I would eat this in Narnia vibes or like in
the habit or something totally mm hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
All that being said, people really like arguing about castle At,
like what goes in it, what absolutely does not go
in it? How thick it should be, what kind specifically
of big white beans you should use, like what town
did they come from? You monster, what kind of earthenware?
Pots specifically you cook it in? How many times you
(06:24):
press the crust during cooking? Is it precisely seven times?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I don't know. I can't tell you what to do
even if I did know.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I'm scared, Laura. It's okay, it's okay, we're going to
get through this. But yeah, So, so like basically, you're
you're gonna get a base of flavor from those aromatic vegetables,
usually onion, carrot, maybe celery. Your herbs and spices are
probably minimal beyond salt and pepper, like garlic, thyme, bay leaf, parsley,
(06:57):
maybe clove if you're going crazy what the cheese was.
Recipes generally call for stock or maybe some pork or
poultry bones in the stew to add some silkiness and body,
but the main stars of the dish are the beans
and the meaty proteins, which brings us to the three
main styles of castlet in southwest France, which is where
(07:19):
the dish is from, and those styles correspond to the
three cities that claim it. The Toloose version includes lamb
and or mutton, pork, sausage, duck, confee, tomatoes, tomatoes, and
maybe a sprinkling of bread crumbs on top.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
No oh no, this is controversial.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
The Castelna dairy version includes confee, duck or goose, fresh pork,
pork sausage, and salt pork. The carcassone version adds partridge
to this wild but all of this is what's considered traditional,
and like even the purest of pure wrists will tell
you that there is a different casslet for every cook.
(08:04):
So a word about the confeet. The poultry used traditionally
is confeet, and confeet is a style of cooking where
you use a lot of fat and low and slow
temperatures to preserve food, usually meat, often specifically the legs
of poultry. You basically render out the fat and then
immerse the protein in fat. It's like a deep fry,
(08:26):
but nowhere near the frying temperature like you're looking for
under the boiling point of water, like no higher than
two hundred fahrenheit, like ninety degrees celsius. The protein is
usually also well salted, sometimes seasoned with herbs and spices,
so you wind up with this incredibly tender, flavorful meat
that is considered fancy these days because it takes time
(08:50):
and effort, but absolutely started as just a way to
preserve meat for lean times. And yeah, yeah, you can
some times find canned casselet produced in France, and it
does go in and out of fashion at the sort
of like kind of nice restaurants that enjoy riffing on
simple type foods. But you can also make it yourself.
(09:11):
As I said above, you know, you can try going
the traditional root, one of the traditional roots, or you
can riff with what you've got and what you like,
which was probably originally the point. Yeah, as always, Serious
Eats has a pretty good recipe. You know, like, no,
you do not have to com fee your own duck. Yes,
(09:31):
you could sub in fresh chicken and like flavor it
with some duck fat if you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Wanted to, you know, do whatever you want options. Which
speaking of what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It really depends on what all you put in there.
This is meant to be a nutrient dense dish. Depending
on the type of proteins that you add, it can
be pretty heavy. But you know, yeah if if it's
a treat, I mean, it will fill you up and
help keep you going. Both eat an additional vegetable.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
That's our new motto.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Eat an additional vegetable, not just one, not just not
just whatever small amount of carrot and on union put
under like three pounds of pork. Yeah, yeah, that's good advice.
All right, Well we have some numbers for you. We do,
we do, Okay, So there is a feat the Castle
(10:34):
at in a Castle Nadi every summer, which will be
I believe in it's twenty fifth year this year twenty
twenty six, although that sounds that sounds too recent, but
I don't know. I think that they've been having something
similar for a very long time and maybe this is
like the new official version. But yeah, they host some
like eighty thousand people over five days. So wow, if
(10:57):
you have been let us know. I've read estimates that
anywhere from like eighty five to one hundred and twenty
metric tons of castle at are produced every year in
southwest France. But those estimates, I read those numbers in
a couple different places, and it never seemed to be
referring to just canned production, and so I have no
(11:21):
idea how anyone would go about calculating that. And also
that's a really wide range, but like they were from
different time periods, so I'm you know, I don't know.
I thought i'd say it because it's a fun it's
a fun number. It's a fun, weird number.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah. Yeah, it's popular. It is what we can say,
it is popular.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
It is quite popular, and it's been pretty popular throughout
the history, certainly inspired a lot of great quotes.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and we are going to get into some of
those in the history section. But first we are going
to get into a quick break for a word from
our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So as always, with a dish with this much mythos
behind it, this much passion behind it, so so many
towns in southwestern France specifically claimed that they invented Casilet.
That being said, as you mentioned, Lauren, there are three
generally main contenders, according to Chef Prospered Montaignier from a
(12:34):
nineteen to twenty nine statement.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
That he made Montagner being the chef who compiled the
original Larius Guestrono Miiku if y'all remember that episode, yes.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
So according to him, Castello Darius Cassilet was the Supreme God,
the Father. After that Cassilet from his own home of
Carcassone was God the Son, and then from Lose the
Holy Spirit. So I feel that this is more of
(13:08):
a because, as you mentioned, these are three main types
that are different, and I wasn't necessarily able to pin
down the history of each of these types. But I
think it's more of a It could be more of
a preference on his end, but also just these are
the three main types and they kind of led to
all of these other iterations. Yes, but when we're talking
(13:32):
about Casteinoberri's claim. The popular stories that during the One
Hundred Years War, which took place between the kingdoms of
England and France between the thirteen and fourteen hundreds people
in Castell Nolberry pulled together their resources for food while
under attack by the English, and a lot of these
versions the stories beans, bacon, sausage, maybe duck were the
(13:57):
ingredients that were stewed together in a large clay pot.
Thus casslet was born and the townsfolk were able to
fend off the English, especially the soldiers, from given strength
by this dish.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Sure yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
However, there is no proof at all that any of
this happened, not even the specific siege in question. There
was some skirleishes that happened, but this specific sigege Yeah.
Also of note, the Gauls were eating a stew made
of lentils and pork by this point, and had been
(14:31):
for hundreds of years, So a lot of people say
the history of a dish.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Like this was already going on. Oh sure, yeah yes.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Which speaking of okay, the Confrerie to Castile de Castel Noderi,
which is an organization dedicated to the preservation and protection
of the tradition around Castle at once issued this quote
to try to trace the true story of the origins
of Castile. Is no small affair given the inflamed passions
(15:03):
it provokes.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Indeed accurate.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
They are very accurate, and I love that they even them.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
They were like yeah, uh, They're like, we're not We're
not really gonna touch this one.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
We are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
We are the Brotherhood of Castle at Friend Castle, Milderry specifically. Yes,
like look inside, I had those tuloose kids, but but
we're not sure.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yes, even so, even so. Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
They go on to point to the thirteenth century recipes
for mutton and the goom stews from Mohammed of Baghdad,
which they believed influenced French stews and soups and castle
at all. Right, so this is where I just couldn't
research every being that's ever come to France.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
But I just couldn't do it. Yeah, No, that's legit.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Mm hmi side quests brother days.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, so I'm I love a bean side quest. I'm
in for it.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Oh yeah, but the white beans, now commonplace and many cassalats,
didn't arrive in France until the sixteenth century, after they
were brought back from the Americas, and allegedly Catherine Medici
popularized them in France. Prior to that, something like broad
beans were probably used. This is also when tomatoes. The
(16:25):
controversial tomatoes arrived, but it might have taken them a while.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
To be accepted, and you can see our tomato Reducs
episode for more on that.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
And similar to the beans, I just cannot go over
the history of all the meats that they included that
may be included in this dish for you. That's just
not something I can do in a single episode.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, not today, That's okay.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, another side quest, but all kinds of meats and
seafood ended up in cassalats based on taste and availability
and people, Yes, they have opinions about it, and we're
talking pork, duck, gizzard, sausage, seafood.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
When the dish first started.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Out, as you kind of mentioned, Lauren, it was it
was relatively cheap, like cheap beans and a cheap cut
of whatever meat was available that would fill you up
at the time. It was often slow cooked by housewives
and was called estufats until it was renamed Caslet after
the castle, which is the clay conical pot it was
(17:28):
often cooked in. But yeah, it was like a kind
of a cheap, slow cooked meal that would fill you
up for days.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, Yeah, what do we got, Let's go let's go
Castle ol Dairies La maison bussu or busu I couldn't
find the pronunciation.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Opened in eighteen thirty six. It was the first castle
at factory and further cemented the area as the hub
of castle production. And you best believe people have opinions
about manufactured caslet will yes.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
The dish did soon spread throughout France, Europe and later
to the United States with French expats and just the
overall rise of French food in the US and across
the globe. In nineteen sixty six, a French food council,
the etaz General de Gaestronomie Francis, determined that a quote
(18:23):
true castle calls for three different types of meat in
the dish and that meat must account for thirty percent
of it.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Oh oh, okay, it's very specific. It was.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Okay, So the aforementioned conferre or Brotherhood of Caslet of
Castle MOLDERI was formed in nineteen seventy and I need
y'all to know that they wear robes that are the
color of terra cotta earthenware like that a traditional castolet
(18:57):
would be made in and match tok hats in the
shape of a castle pot.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's excellent. It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I'm so psyched about it.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
It's really good, everybody, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Oh man. Also, there is apparently a local ode or
perhaps him to castile At that according to legend, the
people of Castel NOLDERI developed in like the early nineteen hundreds,
but definitely has been adapted by the Brotherhood. And they
still sing it, and they still sing it in the
(19:39):
original Oxetan language. Oh, this is like extremely in translation.
But here's a tiny snippet. I'm not going to sing it.
I couldn't find I couldn't find a recording of it.
But oh, castile At to celebrate the memory of the
bean young and old, we will sing to you. We
(20:00):
love you like two eyes. We'll always find a place
for you in our stomachs. It's excellent, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
This is not the only song about castle A by
the way, it is also the subject of a twenty
nineteen technopop banger.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Wow, it's been a minute since we got to talk
about the technopop banger.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, the group is called a Salute sick cool. I'm
so sorry about my French anyway. Yeah, if you google
like twenty nineteen castile a song.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
See I would think it would show up. I would
love if there are multiple results.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Oh it's beautiful. Wow, the music video is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Just fantastic. Again, you never know where the research will
take you. Really, you really don't.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Anyway, back to our timeline. Back to the timeline. In
nineteen ninety eight, Chef Jean Claude Rodriguez founded the Academy
Universal du Casilat and the goal of the organization was
to promote once again true castile at around the world,
upholding French traditional methods.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yep, yep, the Universal castile At Academy.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
The first American chef was not inducted until twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
No, they had to be sure they did. They did.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Serious business is serious business. Speaking of, there was nearly
an international incident in twenty eleven when this British actor
did a sort of prank where he set up a
stand selling canned casilat in Castel NADERI like British versions
of castle At involving like curry or sweet and sour
(22:06):
sauce or mint or marmalade, and all.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Of this was a joke.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
It was like commissioned by a local French producer of
cann castle At. But I do not have the idea
that the locals appreciated this joke.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Oh, I agree, Laura.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I think there were some anger, they were mad, some
very strong opinions.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah. I believe that the American National Casalet Day originated
in twenty fourteen in New York City, partially as an
effort of the aforementioned Academy and brotherhood. They were doing
a lot of like joint work to promote casileet right
(22:59):
around to that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Time, so they can work together.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
They can, they can, they can. They're they're not, they're not,
they're not opposed. Yeah, they're not at odds.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Love that for them. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
But yeah, and just you know, like a thing that
I guess we have to end all our episodes with
these days. Climate change is coming for a castle At.
The beans traditionally used are water intensive to grow, and
throughout the twenty twenties there have been droughts in the
regions where they're grown, forcing farmers to cut back on production.
(23:35):
But researchers are working on both improving water infrastructure in
the area and on creating more drought resistant bean plants.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
So, yeah, if if I learned anything from this episode,
primarily it is people are passionate about Castolet and people
are going to be looking into how to preserve their castle.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Oh yes, yeah, no, Like I also had to hold
myself back because I was like I could like at
least one of these types of beans is like a
like a pdo, like a like a designated origin bean,
and and I was like I can't. There's it's too much.
(24:26):
And then I was like, how much how much about
this brotherhood and this academy can I go into right now?
Because I want to keep talking about them forever.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Yeah, definitely look them up.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Look up there their outfits.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Oh man, yeah, they both different metals the the Academy,
Like when you join the Academy you get this little
cassole pot metal medallion like it's yeah, oh I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Just a true, a true joy. So.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I don't know if anyone listening has ever been involved,
but if you are, thank you, thank you for your service.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yes, and please write in, yeah let us know. Please
leaves and yeah, listeners write in if you've even been
involved in any.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Way in Castle A but also yeah, if you just
have recipes, you know, we love those yes, but I
think that's what we have to say about Castle at for.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Now, I think it is.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from a one more quick break
for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listeners made nice warm hug. Yes.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Oh okay. So John wrote about our co hog clam episode.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Loved it.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I grew up in Rhode Island in the sixties. My
sisters and I personally dug up co hog clams with
our feet quite common. I greatly look forward to your
future episode on New England clambags. They were awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
As I recall decades later, you dug a pit in
the sand, put in large rocks and build a fire
upon them. At a certain point you put in wet seaweed,
and then alternated layers of food and more seaweed, clams, lobsters,
ears of corn, sausages, potatoes, whatever y'all choose. Fill in
with a layer of sand, put a potato on top,
(26:53):
and when it's done, it's all done. OMG, what a feast.
Since this took hours like the pig Ross that I'm
currently used to. There was much drinking of beer.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
You forgot that the resident town and family guy is
coha Grhode Island. I did stumble across that fact several times,
and I knew it, like I've seen the show. But
I yes, we forgot to.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
We did.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
We did forget to mention that absolutely are bad. Uh
and yeah led to a great discussion in my household
about that town being not real.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's a it's a fictional town, yes, but.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Uh but uh yeah, that is also what I understand
clambakes to be about, except I had not heard the
detail about the potato timer. I am now obsessed with
the idea of a potato timer.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
That's an excellent detail. I love that so much. This
also just sounds like a really fun like your comparison
to you know, pig Roast. Yeah, it just sounds like
a fun communal hangout where you're, yeah, you're fading for
this delicious food and maybe drinking beer or whatever.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
But yeah maybe rd and around, you know, yeah, like
like plans and games, like having a nice time.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah, and we did mention in that episode that you know,
children would dig up the clams with their feet. It
was kind of a tourist activity. So cool of you
to write in about that and.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Confirmed, Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It's one of those details that sometimes sounds like almost
too homey to be true, but then you think, no,
that's just how you do it, probably like that's just
an easy that's I mean, you're already using your feet.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, might as well, why not?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, yeah, Joe wrote, ha yah. The past few episodes
have sparked a few thoughts, not enough to stand by themselves,
but as a collection of somewhat rapid fire impressions.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
So here we go.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
My family visited Pike Place Market in Seattle last year
and we sent a box of dungeness crab and smoked
salmon home. I still dream of that smoked salmon, and
the experience of sitting around the table with my family
cracking into that crab will certainly stay with me. We're
not used to crabs that big and intimidating, but as
with all crabs, the effort is worth it. If someone
(29:18):
takes a crab apart for you, that is definitely love.
Jasmine tea was one of the first teas I truly enjoyed.
A friend of mine used to work at Tivana when
it used to be a standalone store, and she always
had a huge stock of it in her cupboards that
I would shamelessly raid. Another friend has family in Toronto
and it's through them that I tried to make in
(29:40):
beef patties for the first time. Not sure what shop
they get them from, but they are so spicy and
yet so delicious that I'm more than willing to suffer
through the heat. While in grad school in England, I
usually transferred flights in shipful Shipfall I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
In Amsterdam, great stroop waffles from the Dooty Free Store
were my go to gifts for friends and family because
they were still pretty rare over here at that point
in time. Nothing beats a chat over tea with a
stroop waffle slowly softening over top the mug. Chex mix
is one of my favorite snacks. I have some sitting
in my pantry as we speak. The mom of yet
(30:19):
another friend is something of a Chex mix queen in
my opinion. She makes sweet and savory mixes and often
puts her own spin on them. For example, since she's
not a fan of wheat checks, she swaps in cheerios
when she's doing a savory mix. The recipe I'm attaching
is a snickerdoodle, muddy buddy, or puppy chow, as we
call it in the Midwest variation. As you'll see, she
(30:40):
changed the amount of cinnamon because she didn't think the
original recipe had enough of it. And now I'm craving
puppy chow.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yes, and a recipe was attached if any of you
listeners want it. I have heard of puffy Chow. I
love the versatility and Chex mix. I love that you
have a Chex mix queen.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
In your own Yes, yes, I feel like this is
a very Midwest thing to have, Like, this is absolutely
a thing that a lot of humans listening are going
to respond to, like, yeah, of course you've got the
one friend who's really good at chex mix.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, yes, and maybe multiple types of checks mix. Do
you have savory one or a sweet one?
Speaker 1 (31:18):
This stuff, oh man, absolutely so good.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah. Pipe Place Market is indeed delightful. Yes, and oh man,
that does that does sound real good.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I haven't gotten any crab yet, I me either, and
I tried to get some. I don't. I can't remember
if I mentioned it on the podcast, but I was
trying to get some from my mom for Christmas because
she loves crab. I just couldn't. I wanted the fresh
Oh yeah, yeah, find it. But I do agree that
(31:52):
whoever is, if someone's willing to take a part a
crab for you, that's a special type of.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Love that really is genuinely yes, and let you eat
it right, Yeah, that's a that's a bunch.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I did get some Jamaican patties recently, though. I had
some good frozen chicken curry ones from Caribbean market that
I went to that's somewhere around Atlanta, and oh they
were so good.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I have some frozen ones waiting for me too, and
I got the spicy ones, so I'm oh, spice sometimes
you could. I can overestimate what I can do. I
feel confident, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Yeah, these these were, I mean they were they had
spice to them. I wouldn't say that they were super hot,
they were certainly hotter than like your typical American frozen
food with me.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
All right, well, I'll report back.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
And yes, it is nice to have a friend who
has lots of teas that you yes, raid, but also
uh yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Stroop waffles over a warm beverage. I haven't gotten any
of those either yet. We're so behind. We are good
problem to have. It is a good problem. It is
a good problem I have.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And we love that you listeners remind us, yes, that
we need to fix these things, to try these things.
So thank you so much to both of these listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can. Our email is Hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
savor pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
(33:55):
more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Any and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have
an episode for you about cassilet.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Oh yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, fun with pronunciation. You
took a lot of French. Was there any particular reason
this was on your mind, Laurd?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You know, it just feels like such a wonderful winter dish.
And I was kind of trying to balance these New year,
these like January episodes with a combination of like weird
health related subjects and just like nice comfy subjects.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, and this is I mean, I don't know that
I've ever had a castlelet no.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Oh my goodness. Oh they're so nice.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
They sound like a very comfy dish. I mean, I
feel like I've had something adjacent. I've definitely had something
in that ballpark, but I don't know if I've ever
actually had a castle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh, I recommend it really just really nice and like overall,
like I mean, like as long as you don't get
too caught up in it. More on that later, you
can absolutely make a similarc rum at home.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean it sounds like something I would absolutely
be into. I'm very very interested in pursue trying it. Yeah, yes, yes,
but I guess you've had it.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I have, I have.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's delightful. I can't even remember, but I but yep,
that's strongly believe that this was like it's something that
I have done known about. I guess just because of
like my adjacency to Lariu's gastronl meat. Maybe I'm not like,
(02:00):
I'm not sure, Like I like I kind of grew
up with like a sort of base of French cooking knowledge.
And yeah, maybe the last time I had it was
it some nice pub around Atlanta that enjoys doing things
like this.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I'm for some reason, brick store pub is coming
to mind, but I'm I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
You know, yeah, they seem like the type that would
do it. Yeah see that.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, we also do have a number of really nice
friend restaurants around town, so really good, cozy kind of places.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So yeah, yes, well, Lauren and I were discussing off Mike.
This is a very uh fun one in terms of
some drama.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Oh yes, strong opinions, very strong opinion. Yeah yeah, but
it's also a super fun one. It's got some because
all of those passions lead to a number of details
that I am bursting at the seams to tell you
all about. Oh, starting with okay, y'all, huh, oh my heck.
(03:05):
National Castle a Day here in the United States is
January ninth. That is the day that this episode is
coming out. And I understand that there is statistically like
a one in three hundred and sixty five chance that
that was going to happen sometime, but I had no idea,
and I'm so psyched.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
We've never done that before.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
No, we are precisely precisely on time and accidentally too.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, that's the only time when we are on time
is accidental in fact, or if.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
It's NERD related.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, right, right, sure we get very precise around May fourth.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yes, we do. Well, that's exciting. Oh goodness. Yeah, so
Happy Castle a Day. If you're listening to this, the
day comes out Happy Castle a Day. Oh, I'm just
gonna have to sit with this. I'm actually legitimately happy
about that. I like didn't write it into the outline
so that I could surprise you. Live, thank you, even
(04:11):
if I'm a little flustered or just like fruit and smilingness.
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I know I love it. I love a good surprise. Well,
I guess that does bring us to our question.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Sure sure. Castile At, what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, Casslet is a type of stew that can include
many things, but basically you're looking at a hearty dish
with like lots of big white beans and rich meats,
often a combination of some kind of poultry, some kind
of sausage, and some kind of smoke cured pork, all
slow cooked together with some aromatic vegetables and some like
(04:52):
warm and savory herbs and spices until the beans are
silky and this brown crust has formed at the top.
It's traditionally cooked in a round earthenware pot with like
a narrow base and a wider lip to get really
good crust formation, which you're supposed to encourage by like
pressing it down or like cracking it in places a
(05:13):
few times during cooking to allow some of the of
the liquid stew from beneath to bubble up and form
like a new layer up there. Castle At is heavy
and savory and usually a little smoky, and feels really
simple in like such a rich way. It's a stout
and sturdy kind of dish.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
A good. A good castle At.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Makes you remember the ache of winter in your bones
and reminds you that humanity has been fighting back that
cold together for millennia.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, it gave me very like I'll eat this and
I would eat this in Narnia vibes or like in
the habit or something totally mm hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
All that being said, people really like arguing about castle At,
like what goes in it, what absolutely does not go
in it? How thick it should be, what kind specifically
of big white beans you should use, like what town
did they come from? You monster, what kind of earthenware?
Pots specifically you cook it in? How many times you
(06:24):
press the crust during cooking? Is it precisely seven times?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I don't know. I can't tell you what to do
even if I did know.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I'm scared, Laura. It's okay, it's okay, we're going to
get through this. But yeah, So, so like basically, you're
you're gonna get a base of flavor from those aromatic vegetables,
usually onion, carrot, maybe celery. Your herbs and spices are
probably minimal beyond salt and pepper, like garlic, thyme, bay leaf, parsley,
(06:57):
maybe clove if you're going crazy what the cheese was.
Recipes generally call for stock or maybe some pork or
poultry bones in the stew to add some silkiness and body,
but the main stars of the dish are the beans
and the meaty proteins, which brings us to the three
main styles of castlet in southwest France, which is where
(07:19):
the dish is from, and those styles correspond to the
three cities that claim it. The Toloose version includes lamb
and or mutton, pork, sausage, duck, confee, tomatoes, tomatoes, and
maybe a sprinkling of bread crumbs on top.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
No oh no, this is controversial.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
The Castelna dairy version includes confee, duck or goose, fresh pork,
pork sausage, and salt pork. The carcassone version adds partridge
to this wild but all of this is what's considered traditional,
and like even the purest of pure wrists will tell
you that there is a different casslet for every cook.
(08:04):
So a word about the confeet. The poultry used traditionally
is confeet, and confeet is a style of cooking where
you use a lot of fat and low and slow
temperatures to preserve food, usually meat, often specifically the legs
of poultry. You basically render out the fat and then
immerse the protein in fat. It's like a deep fry,
(08:26):
but nowhere near the frying temperature like you're looking for
under the boiling point of water, like no higher than
two hundred fahrenheit, like ninety degrees celsius. The protein is
usually also well salted, sometimes seasoned with herbs and spices,
so you wind up with this incredibly tender, flavorful meat
that is considered fancy these days because it takes time
(08:50):
and effort, but absolutely started as just a way to
preserve meat for lean times. And yeah, yeah, you can
some times find canned casselet produced in France, and it
does go in and out of fashion at the sort
of like kind of nice restaurants that enjoy riffing on
simple type foods. But you can also make it yourself.
(09:11):
As I said above, you know, you can try going
the traditional root, one of the traditional roots, or you
can riff with what you've got and what you like,
which was probably originally the point. Yeah, as always, Serious
Eats has a pretty good recipe. You know, like, no,
you do not have to com fee your own duck. Yes,
(09:31):
you could sub in fresh chicken and like flavor it
with some duck fat if you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Wanted to, you know, do whatever you want options. Which
speaking of what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It really depends on what all you put in there.
This is meant to be a nutrient dense dish. Depending
on the type of proteins that you add, it can
be pretty heavy. But you know, yeah if if it's
a treat, I mean, it will fill you up and
help keep you going. Both eat an additional vegetable.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
That's our new motto.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Eat an additional vegetable, not just one, not just not
just whatever small amount of carrot and on union put
under like three pounds of pork. Yeah, yeah, that's good advice.
All right, Well we have some numbers for you. We do,
we do, Okay, So there is a feat the Castle
(10:34):
at in a Castle Nadi every summer, which will be
I believe in it's twenty fifth year this year twenty
twenty six, although that sounds that sounds too recent, but
I don't know. I think that they've been having something
similar for a very long time and maybe this is
like the new official version. But yeah, they host some
like eighty thousand people over five days. So wow, if
(10:57):
you have been let us know. I've read estimates that
anywhere from like eighty five to one hundred and twenty
metric tons of castle at are produced every year in
southwest France. But those estimates, I read those numbers in
a couple different places, and it never seemed to be
referring to just canned production, and so I have no
(11:21):
idea how anyone would go about calculating that. And also
that's a really wide range, but like they were from
different time periods, so I'm you know, I don't know.
I thought i'd say it because it's a fun it's
a fun number. It's a fun, weird number.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah. Yeah, it's popular. It is what we can say,
it is popular.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
It is quite popular, and it's been pretty popular throughout
the history, certainly inspired a lot of great quotes.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and we are going to get into some of
those in the history section. But first we are going
to get into a quick break for a word from
our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So as always, with a dish with this much mythos
behind it, this much passion behind it, so so many
towns in southwestern France specifically claimed that they invented Casilet.
That being said, as you mentioned, Lauren, there are three
generally main contenders, according to Chef Prospered Montaignier from a
(12:34):
nineteen to twenty nine statement.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
That he made Montagner being the chef who compiled the
original Larius Guestrono Miiku if y'all remember that episode, yes.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
So according to him, Castello Darius Cassilet was the Supreme God,
the Father. After that Cassilet from his own home of
Carcassone was God the Son, and then from Lose the
Holy Spirit. So I feel that this is more of
(13:08):
a because, as you mentioned, these are three main types
that are different, and I wasn't necessarily able to pin
down the history of each of these types. But I
think it's more of a It could be more of
a preference on his end, but also just these are
the three main types and they kind of led to
all of these other iterations. Yes, but when we're talking
(13:32):
about Casteinoberri's claim. The popular stories that during the One
Hundred Years War, which took place between the kingdoms of
England and France between the thirteen and fourteen hundreds people
in Castell Nolberry pulled together their resources for food while
under attack by the English, and a lot of these
versions the stories beans, bacon, sausage, maybe duck were the
(13:57):
ingredients that were stewed together in a large clay pot.
Thus casslet was born and the townsfolk were able to
fend off the English, especially the soldiers, from given strength
by this dish.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Sure yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
However, there is no proof at all that any of
this happened, not even the specific siege in question. There
was some skirleishes that happened, but this specific sigege Yeah.
Also of note, the Gauls were eating a stew made
of lentils and pork by this point, and had been
(14:31):
for hundreds of years, So a lot of people say
the history of a dish.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Like this was already going on. Oh sure, yeah yes.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Which speaking of okay, the Confrerie to Castile de Castel Noderi,
which is an organization dedicated to the preservation and protection
of the tradition around Castle at once issued this quote
to try to trace the true story of the origins
of Castile. Is no small affair given the inflamed passions
(15:03):
it provokes.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Indeed accurate.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
They are very accurate, and I love that they even them.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
They were like yeah, uh, They're like, we're not We're
not really gonna touch this one.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
We are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
We are the Brotherhood of Castle at Friend Castle, Milderry specifically. Yes,
like look inside, I had those tuloose kids, but but
we're not sure.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yes, even so, even so. Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
They go on to point to the thirteenth century recipes
for mutton and the goom stews from Mohammed of Baghdad,
which they believed influenced French stews and soups and castle
at all. Right, so this is where I just couldn't
research every being that's ever come to France.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
But I just couldn't do it. Yeah, No, that's legit.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Mm hmi side quests brother days.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, so I'm I love a bean side quest. I'm
in for it.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Oh yeah, but the white beans, now commonplace and many cassalats,
didn't arrive in France until the sixteenth century, after they
were brought back from the Americas, and allegedly Catherine Medici
popularized them in France. Prior to that, something like broad
beans were probably used. This is also when tomatoes. The
(16:25):
controversial tomatoes arrived, but it might have taken them a while.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
To be accepted, and you can see our tomato Reducs
episode for more on that.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
And similar to the beans, I just cannot go over
the history of all the meats that they included that
may be included in this dish for you. That's just
not something I can do in a single episode.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, not today, That's okay.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, another side quest, but all kinds of meats and
seafood ended up in cassalats based on taste and availability
and people, Yes, they have opinions about it, and we're
talking pork, duck, gizzard, sausage, seafood.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
When the dish first started.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Out, as you kind of mentioned, Lauren, it was it
was relatively cheap, like cheap beans and a cheap cut
of whatever meat was available that would fill you up
at the time. It was often slow cooked by housewives
and was called estufats until it was renamed Caslet after
the castle, which is the clay conical pot it was
(17:28):
often cooked in. But yeah, it was like a kind
of a cheap, slow cooked meal that would fill you
up for days.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, Yeah, what do we got, Let's go let's go
Castle ol Dairies La maison bussu or busu I couldn't
find the pronunciation.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Opened in eighteen thirty six. It was the first castle
at factory and further cemented the area as the hub
of castle production. And you best believe people have opinions
about manufactured caslet will yes.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
The dish did soon spread throughout France, Europe and later
to the United States with French expats and just the
overall rise of French food in the US and across
the globe. In nineteen sixty six, a French food council,
the etaz General de Gaestronomie Francis, determined that a quote
(18:23):
true castle calls for three different types of meat in
the dish and that meat must account for thirty percent
of it.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Oh oh, okay, it's very specific. It was.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Okay, So the aforementioned conferre or Brotherhood of Caslet of
Castle MOLDERI was formed in nineteen seventy and I need
y'all to know that they wear robes that are the
color of terra cotta earthenware like that a traditional castolet
(18:57):
would be made in and match tok hats in the
shape of a castle pot.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's excellent. It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I'm so psyched about it.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
It's really good, everybody, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Oh man. Also, there is apparently a local ode or
perhaps him to castile At that according to legend, the
people of Castel NOLDERI developed in like the early nineteen hundreds,
but definitely has been adapted by the Brotherhood. And they
still sing it, and they still sing it in the
(19:39):
original Oxetan language. Oh, this is like extremely in translation.
But here's a tiny snippet. I'm not going to sing it.
I couldn't find I couldn't find a recording of it.
But oh, castile At to celebrate the memory of the
bean young and old, we will sing to you. We
(20:00):
love you like two eyes. We'll always find a place
for you in our stomachs. It's excellent, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
This is not the only song about castle A by
the way, it is also the subject of a twenty
nineteen technopop banger.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Wow, it's been a minute since we got to talk
about the technopop banger.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, the group is called a Salute sick cool. I'm
so sorry about my French anyway. Yeah, if you google
like twenty nineteen castile a song.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
See I would think it would show up. I would
love if there are multiple results.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Oh it's beautiful. Wow, the music video is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Just fantastic. Again, you never know where the research will
take you. Really, you really don't.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Anyway, back to our timeline. Back to the timeline. In
nineteen ninety eight, Chef Jean Claude Rodriguez founded the Academy
Universal du Casilat and the goal of the organization was
to promote once again true castile at around the world,
upholding French traditional methods.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yep, yep, the Universal castile At Academy.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
The first American chef was not inducted until twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
No, they had to be sure they did. They did.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Serious business is serious business. Speaking of, there was nearly
an international incident in twenty eleven when this British actor
did a sort of prank where he set up a
stand selling canned casilat in Castel NADERI like British versions
of castle At involving like curry or sweet and sour
(22:06):
sauce or mint or marmalade, and all.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Of this was a joke.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
It was like commissioned by a local French producer of
cann castle At. But I do not have the idea
that the locals appreciated this joke.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Oh, I agree, Laura.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I think there were some anger, they were mad, some
very strong opinions.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah. I believe that the American National Casalet Day originated
in twenty fourteen in New York City, partially as an
effort of the aforementioned Academy and brotherhood. They were doing
a lot of like joint work to promote casileet right
(22:59):
around to that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Time, so they can work together.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
They can, they can, they can. They're they're not, they're not,
they're not opposed. Yeah, they're not at odds.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Love that for them. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
But yeah, and just you know, like a thing that
I guess we have to end all our episodes with
these days. Climate change is coming for a castle At.
The beans traditionally used are water intensive to grow, and
throughout the twenty twenties there have been droughts in the
regions where they're grown, forcing farmers to cut back on production.
(23:35):
But researchers are working on both improving water infrastructure in
the area and on creating more drought resistant bean plants.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
So, yeah, if if I learned anything from this episode,
primarily it is people are passionate about Castolet and people
are going to be looking into how to preserve their castle.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Oh yes, yeah, no, Like I also had to hold
myself back because I was like I could like at
least one of these types of beans is like a
like a pdo, like a like a designated origin bean,
and and I was like I can't. There's it's too much.
(24:26):
And then I was like, how much how much about
this brotherhood and this academy can I go into right now?
Because I want to keep talking about them forever.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Yeah, definitely look them up.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Look up there their outfits.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Oh man, yeah, they both different metals the the Academy,
Like when you join the Academy you get this little
cassole pot metal medallion like it's yeah, oh I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Just a true, a true joy. So.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I don't know if anyone listening has ever been involved,
but if you are, thank you, thank you for your service.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yes, and please write in, yeah let us know. Please
leaves and yeah, listeners write in if you've even been
involved in any.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Way in Castle A but also yeah, if you just
have recipes, you know, we love those yes, but I
think that's what we have to say about Castle at for.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Now, I think it is.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from a one more quick break
for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listeners made nice warm hug. Yes.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Oh okay. So John wrote about our co hog clam episode.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Loved it.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I grew up in Rhode Island in the sixties. My
sisters and I personally dug up co hog clams with
our feet quite common. I greatly look forward to your
future episode on New England clambags. They were awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
As I recall decades later, you dug a pit in
the sand, put in large rocks and build a fire
upon them. At a certain point you put in wet seaweed,
and then alternated layers of food and more seaweed, clams, lobsters,
ears of corn, sausages, potatoes, whatever y'all choose. Fill in
with a layer of sand, put a potato on top,
(26:53):
and when it's done, it's all done. OMG, what a feast.
Since this took hours like the pig Ross that I'm
currently used to. There was much drinking of beer.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
You forgot that the resident town and family guy is
coha Grhode Island. I did stumble across that fact several times,
and I knew it, like I've seen the show. But
I yes, we forgot to.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
We did.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
We did forget to mention that absolutely are bad. Uh
and yeah led to a great discussion in my household
about that town being not real.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's a it's a fictional town, yes, but.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Uh but uh yeah, that is also what I understand
clambakes to be about, except I had not heard the
detail about the potato timer. I am now obsessed with
the idea of a potato timer.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
That's an excellent detail. I love that so much. This
also just sounds like a really fun like your comparison
to you know, pig Roast. Yeah, it just sounds like
a fun communal hangout where you're, yeah, you're fading for
this delicious food and maybe drinking beer or whatever.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
But yeah maybe rd and around, you know, yeah, like
like plans and games, like having a nice time.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah, and we did mention in that episode that you know,
children would dig up the clams with their feet. It
was kind of a tourist activity. So cool of you
to write in about that and.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Confirmed, Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It's one of those details that sometimes sounds like almost
too homey to be true, but then you think, no,
that's just how you do it, probably like that's just
an easy that's I mean, you're already using your feet.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, might as well, why not?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, yeah, Joe wrote, ha yah. The past few episodes
have sparked a few thoughts, not enough to stand by themselves,
but as a collection of somewhat rapid fire impressions.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
So here we go.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
My family visited Pike Place Market in Seattle last year
and we sent a box of dungeness crab and smoked
salmon home. I still dream of that smoked salmon, and
the experience of sitting around the table with my family
cracking into that crab will certainly stay with me. We're
not used to crabs that big and intimidating, but as
with all crabs, the effort is worth it. If someone
(29:18):
takes a crab apart for you, that is definitely love.
Jasmine tea was one of the first teas I truly enjoyed.
A friend of mine used to work at Tivana when
it used to be a standalone store, and she always
had a huge stock of it in her cupboards that
I would shamelessly raid. Another friend has family in Toronto
and it's through them that I tried to make in
(29:40):
beef patties for the first time. Not sure what shop
they get them from, but they are so spicy and
yet so delicious that I'm more than willing to suffer
through the heat. While in grad school in England, I
usually transferred flights in shipful Shipfall I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
In Amsterdam, great stroop waffles from the Dooty Free Store
were my go to gifts for friends and family because
they were still pretty rare over here at that point
in time. Nothing beats a chat over tea with a
stroop waffle slowly softening over top the mug. Chex mix
is one of my favorite snacks. I have some sitting
in my pantry as we speak. The mom of yet
(30:19):
another friend is something of a Chex mix queen in
my opinion. She makes sweet and savory mixes and often
puts her own spin on them. For example, since she's
not a fan of wheat checks, she swaps in cheerios
when she's doing a savory mix. The recipe I'm attaching
is a snickerdoodle, muddy buddy, or puppy chow, as we
call it in the Midwest variation. As you'll see, she
(30:40):
changed the amount of cinnamon because she didn't think the
original recipe had enough of it. And now I'm craving
puppy chow.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yes, and a recipe was attached if any of you
listeners want it. I have heard of puffy Chow. I
love the versatility and Chex mix. I love that you
have a Chex mix queen.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
In your own Yes, yes, I feel like this is
a very Midwest thing to have, Like, this is absolutely
a thing that a lot of humans listening are going
to respond to, like, yeah, of course you've got the
one friend who's really good at chex mix.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, yes, and maybe multiple types of checks mix. Do
you have savory one or a sweet one?
Speaker 1 (31:18):
This stuff, oh man, absolutely so good.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah. Pipe Place Market is indeed delightful. Yes, and oh man,
that does that does sound real good.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I haven't gotten any crab yet, I me either, and
I tried to get some. I don't. I can't remember
if I mentioned it on the podcast, but I was
trying to get some from my mom for Christmas because
she loves crab. I just couldn't. I wanted the fresh
Oh yeah, yeah, find it. But I do agree that
(31:52):
whoever is, if someone's willing to take a part a
crab for you, that's a special type of.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Love that really is genuinely yes, and let you eat
it right, Yeah, that's a that's a bunch.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I did get some Jamaican patties recently, though. I had
some good frozen chicken curry ones from Caribbean market that
I went to that's somewhere around Atlanta, and oh they
were so good.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I have some frozen ones waiting for me too, and
I got the spicy ones, so I'm oh, spice sometimes
you could. I can overestimate what I can do. I
feel confident, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Yeah, these these were, I mean they were they had
spice to them. I wouldn't say that they were super hot,
they were certainly hotter than like your typical American frozen
food with me.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
All right, well, I'll report back.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
And yes, it is nice to have a friend who
has lots of teas that you yes, raid, but also
uh yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Stroop waffles over a warm beverage. I haven't gotten any
of those either yet. We're so behind. We are good
problem to have. It is a good problem. It is
a good problem I have.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And we love that you listeners remind us, yes, that
we need to fix these things, to try these things.
So thank you so much to both of these listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can. Our email is Hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
savor pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
(33:55):
more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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