Podcast Summary:

Le Cours de l'histoire — Miam ! L’histoire en cuisine : Cassoulet au menu ? Manger à Toulouse au Moyen Âge
Host: Xavier Mauduit
Guest: Clémentine Stunon-Monsey
Date: December 17, 2025
Podcast: France Culture

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the foodways of medieval Toulouse, using the city's kitchen and market as a lens to explore social structures, urban politics, and daily life. The hosts examine what was eaten, who prepared and sold it, the regulations and rivalries that shaped the food trade, and explore whether the iconic cassoulet has medieval roots. Drawing from historical records and inventories, the discussion offers an immersive, detailed look at how eating habits reflect and influence broader societal dynamics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Foundations of Medieval Toulouse Cuisine

• Bread and Wine as Staples

  • The diet in medieval Toulouse revolved around bread and wine, heavily codified by Christian norms that prioritized these as daily staples.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 01:18):

    "Le socle de l’alimentation, c'est le pain et le vin [...] On est entre 500 grammes et un kilo de pain par personne par jour."

• Social Distinction Through Food

  • Social hierarchy was visible in what people ate. Wealthier citizens consumed fine white bread, while the less privileged ate darker, mixed-grain breads.
  • Bread and wine also played a role in urban identity and distinguished city-dwellers from rural populations.

2. Urban Growth, Politics, and Food Regulation

• Toulouse's Political Landscape and Food Regulation

  • Toulouse, as the kingdom’s fourth-largest city before the Black Death (~35,000 inhabitants), experienced constant negotiation between local consuls (capitoules) and the French monarchy over food control and taxes.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 03:34):

    "L’intérêt de Toulouse, c’est que déjà c’est une des plus grandes villes du royaume" [...] "Au moment de la croisade contre les albigeois...les consuls obtiennent de plus en plus de franchises pour les habitants, notamment dans le domaine de l’alimentation..."

• Banquets as Social and Political Statements

  • The elite used lavish municipal banquets—documented in municipal registers—to assert status and rival royal representatives, adding prestigious dishes to their tables over time.
  • The composition of these meals reflected ongoing social and political rivalries.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 07:17):

    "Il y a cette volonté, en adaptant des modes culinaires prestigieuses, d’afficher [...] cette noblesse acquise par cette fonction consulaire."

• Food as Evidence in the Archives

  • Expense registers and post-mortem inventories reveal official meals, prices, and utensils, allowing for a quantitative and qualitative reconstruction of diet and social norms.

3. Flavors and Ingredients: Spices and Vegetables

• The Role of Spices

  • Spices (anis, cannelle, girofle, coriandre, gingembre, safran, sucre) were markers of wealth and featured heavily in banquet food (anise, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, saffron, sugar).
  • Quote (Clémentine Stunon-Monsey, 12:03):

    "Il y a 30% d’anis, de cannelle, de girofle, de coriandre, de gingembre, de safran, de sucre [...] 21% de sucre !"

  • Sugar, considered medicinal, was highly prized.

• Vegetal Foundation for the Poor

  • For the masses (and the elite when ‘under duress’), the daily fare was humbler—mostly bread, wine, beans (fèves), a little lard, and vegetables like spinach, chard, turnips, onions, cabbage.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 17:02):

    "C’est le repas de base de Toulousains, de Toulousaines à ce moment-là [...] un ragoût de fèves et de lard."

4. Is Cassoulet Medieval?

• Predecessors of Cassoulet
  • No direct ancestor to cassoulet existed—the bean stew used fava (broad) beans, not the American haricot introduced much later.
  • Medieval “cassoulet-like” dishes were ragouts with fèves and lard or various meats, well spiced, but were quite different from today’s tomato- and haricot-rich dish.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 19:26):

    "Il y a ces fameux ragoûts...à base de fèves et puis de lard [...] c’est extrêmement loin du cassoulet d’aujourd’hui."

5. Utensils, Table Manners, and Social Rituals

• Dining Implements and Customs
  • Trenchers (wood or metal boards or pieces of bread) were used instead of plates; spoons and knives were present, but not forks or glasses (large communal cups/goblets were shared).
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 20:45):

    "Il y a ce qu’on appelle les tranchoirs [...] pas encore de verres [...] des gobelets en étain ou en bois qui sont d’assez large capacité, ce qui fait qu’on peut penser qu’ils peuvent être éventuellement partagés par deux convives."

6. Guilds, Professions, and Market Organization

• Specialization of Food Trades

  • The food market was highly specialized—distinct roles for “mazeliers” (specific butchers handling beef, mutton, veal, some pork), “agneliers” (lamb/goat butchers), “pankossiers” (bread-makers who made but did not bake bread), “fourniers” (bakers), “pâtissiers” (made pies and, later, sweets), and “hortolans” (market gardeners).
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 31:16):

    "Moi, j’ai choisi d’utiliser le terme de Maselie [...] Si j’emploie le terme de boucher, on ne se rendra pas forcément compte de la différence de ce que représente cette profession..."

• Regulations, Training, and Career Paths

  • Strict apprenticeships, exams, and hierarchical organization within each métier (trade) determined professional identities and access to markets.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 36:18):

    "On va avoir des apprentissages, des contrats d’apprentissage [...] 2 à 4 ans selon les métiers..."

7. Supply Chains and Food Safety

• Origins and Circulation of Foodstuffs

  • Slaughter animals were sourced from regions up to 100 km away, then herded to Toulouse and fattened before slaughter within the city.
  • Food safety regulations were strict—inspectors controlled health conditions, especially for pork (“porc ladre”) to avoid disease transmission.

• Markets and Urban Provisioning Strategies

  • Multiple halls (“hal”), distributed marketplaces by product and trade, and close regulation to ensure enough affordable food reached the population.
  • Trades were spatially organized: e.g. grain hall, wine hall, fish hall, with specialized locations for each métier.

8. Political Functions of Food

• Power, Social Control, and Diplomacy
  • Authorities tightly controlled food availability and prices to prevent unrest; price and weight regulations for staples were adjusted according to grain/oil costs.
  • Municipal banquets, gifts of food (étrennes), and feasts were central to negotiating political relationships, alliances, and showing status or securing favor.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 50:31):

    "La diplomatie elle va se faire par exemple par le don des traînes en nourriture [...] pour montrer cette cohésion finalement des autorités, renforcer les liens entre elles..."

9. Sources, Historiography and Gender Roles

• Historical Sources for Food History

  • The richness of Toulouse’s records (municipal expense books, post-mortem inventories, apprenticeship contracts) allows unique statistical and narrative reconstruction of medieval foodways.

• Gendered Dimensions of Trade and Production

  • Certain food professions included women (bread, fish selling, innkeeping) but others—especially meat and spice trades—remained male domains; yet wives or mothers often played hidden roles in managing businesses.
  • Quote (Xavier Mauduit, 56:40):

    "On le voit pour le cas d’un épicier où c’est sa mère, là, pour le coup, qui est là quand il est absent de la boutique, qui gère, par exemple, l’embauche des servantes."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “À la table des capitoules, il y a 30% d’anis, de cannelle, de girofle... 21% de sucre !” — Clémentine Stunon-Monsey, [12:03]
• “Le repas de base de Toulousains...c’est un ragoût de fèves et de lard.” — Xavier Mauduit, [17:02]
• “Il y a cette volonté...d’afficher la noblesse acquise par cette fonction consulaire.” — Xavier Mauduit, [07:17]
• “La diplomatie elle va se faire par exemple par le don des étrennes en nourriture... pour renforcer les liens.” — Xavier Mauduit, [50:31]
• “Comme on faisait de très belles peintures...on avait aussi de très belles épices pour alluminer la cuisine.” — Narration, [00:40]/[48:06]
• “La base, c’est le pain, le vin... pour les plus modestes. Plus on monte dans la hiérarchie, plus on a du pain blanc.” — Xavier Mauduit, [02:44]

Important Timestamps

• [01:18]: Bread and wine as diet staples
• [03:34]: Toulouse’s political and food regulation context
• [07:17]: Cuisine and elite rivalries
• [12:03]: Compositions/statistics of banquets; use of spices and sugar
• [17:02]: Daily diet of the average townspeople (bread, wine, fèves)
• [19:26]: Medieval ragouts vs. modern cassoulet
• [20:45]: Table etiquette: trenchers, utensils, communal cups
• [24:16]: Official regulation of bread, oil, and meat prices
• [31:16]: The unique structure of mazeliers (“bouchers”) in Toulouse
• [36:18]: Apprenticeships and social mobility within trades
• [43:25]: Bread trades: pankossiers, fourniers, pâtissiers
• [50:31]: Food and political/diplomatic rituals: gifts, banquets
• [56:00]: Gender in food trades; women’s implicit and explicit roles

Tone & Storytelling

The conversation is warm, erudite, sometimes playful, and always anchored in the material realities and human experiences of medieval life. Vivid historical detail is sprinkled with asides and moments of modern reflection (“c’est un petit goût de paradis qu’on s’offre à table...”—[46:57]), making the city’s past sensibly close. The hosts advocate for seeing everyday history as key to understanding deep social currents.

Takeaway

Eating in medieval Toulouse was never just about sustenance: it mirrored and shaped power, community, and hierarchy. Through a rich array of sources, the episode reconstructs not only what was consumed, but how markets, professions, social codes, politics, and even diplomacy played out on the table and in the kitchen. The legendary cassoulet, the guest assures, is a much more recent arrival—but the spirit of communal, hearty fare lives on.