Cassoulet, named for the cassole dish it's cooked in, is a meat-and-beans stew that originated in southwestern France, though many French towns has their own variations. Traditional cassoulet recipes contain a wide range of ingredients, but no matter which version you make, avoid this ingredient for a more authentic experience.

Cassoulet has a signature brown crust on top of the stew, and you might assume that this crust is made of breadcrumbs. However, using breadcrumbs is often considered a shortcut for lazy cooks, since cassoulet’s crust should be made of natural fats and juices from cured meats like duck and sausage thickened with the starch of beans.

While baking cassoulet in a Dutch oven, the crust must be broken, submerged in liquid, and reformed at least three or four times to get the best flavor and texture. It can be difficult to do this without a real tapered cassole dish, so you can help the process (and avoid breadcrumbs) by using store-bought gelatin to enrich the stew.