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haricot de mouton

mutton ragout

Haricots de Soissons accompagnant des tranches de gigot de mouton

This is one of the oldest known French recipes, first recorded in the 14th century—a ragout of mutton, bacon, onions, beef broth, mace, parsley, onions, turnips, hysope and sage.

In spite of its name, the beans (dried lingots) now common in the recipe only arrived from the New World much later. Linguists believe that the name comes instead from the medieval French harigoter, to shred.

Soups, stews and casseroles

Text © Dana Facaros

Image by stu_spivack