Cooking some cassoulet

This report lacks newsworthiness, and it has little do with international relations. Perhaps area studies: France.

Nonetheless, while searching the web for recipes for cassoulet - a French peasant dish of white beans and often pork, literally a "casserole" - I discovered that there is much discord surrounding the correct way to create the concoction. Depending on one's region, the dish may also contain goose, lamb, bread crumbs, tomatoes, and a bag of spices called a bouquet garni. One recipe listed on an Australian website (that's globalization) called for "1 pig's trotter." A recipe may contain none of the above, except white beans and pork, of course, yet it can still be cassoulet.

This article discusses some of the regional variations, and has some humorous quotes from cooks who think theirs is obviously the best method. This NY Times article, which fortunately is free-of-charge since it is a Travel article, goes into more detail about regional nuances. And here's a site about a French town with a Cassoulet Festival.

Sounds delicious.