And the winner is…Mark Bello, with his secret-weapon cassoulet. (Photo: Jackie Beach)

Making my way through Jimmy’s No. 43’s cavernous back rooms last Saturday, my nostrils were saturated with the smell of smoked meat and herbs. I had found the Cassoulet Cookoff.  On NYC’s most arctic day of the year so far, I was hankering to fill my belly with variations of the classic French stew traditionally prepared with white beans and meat galore.

Jimmy’s owner, Jimmy Carbone, and Greenmarket and Slow Food board member Ed Yowell conceived the cook-off to benefit NYC’s Greenmarket; the event was also the grand finale of Jimmy’s weeklong Sausagefest. The competition’s one requirement: Thou must use Greenmarket sausage. A $20 cover awarded eaters a little white plastic bowl, a spoon and a voting card. Grasping mine eagerly, I approached each table, grilling the chefs about their ingredients.

For cassoulet novices like myself, the competition’s stews could be divided into two categories: brothy and beany. Jimmy’s chef John Crabbs and former Jimmy’s chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark (who recently left Pegu Club) served up savory, soupy versions (although Kirschen-Clark’s was a bit gamy for my taste), and these two were also the meatiest, loaded with hunks of sausage, duck and lamb, (and in Kirschen-Clark’s case, morcilla, a Spanish blood sausage), and augmented only with white beans and a few vegetables. Andrew Field (Rockaway Taco) ladled out his vegetarian cassoulet chock-full of Greenmarket potatoes, heirloom carrots, onion, garlic and rosemary.  Flavorful enough, but seemingly missing the point.

Not Eating Out in New York's Cathy Erway with her contender for the cassoulet crown.

The other versions were thicker and beanier. Mark Bello from Pizza A Casa served up a rich, delicious cassoulet featuring sage breakfast sausage and weisswurst, smartly sprinkling bread crumbs on top of each portion to ensure a crunchy crust. Melissa Rebholz, a former Greenmarket manager and sometime cook at Roberta’s in Brooklyn, presented a pleasant Southern twist with her Cassoulet de Chomage (”cassoulet of unemployment”: great name!)—collard greens braised in pear cider. Even fruitier was Not Eating Out in New York’s Cathy Erway’s charming “Pommes de Porc,” made with apple compote and maple-cured sausages and ham hocks. Kelly Geary from Sweet Deliverance conjured a hearty, tasty potage with plenty of pork, duck, flageolet beans and potatoes.

After much spooning, slurping and mingling with East Village cassoulet enthusiasts, Greenmarket boosters, New York culinary historians and chefs (including Ryan Tate, possibly gleaning ideas for Savoy’s next featured cassoulet), votes were tallied, and Mark Bello was announced as the champion of the day, garnering a large majority of the popular vote. As for me, I emerged from Jimmy’s three hours and as many glasses of Sixpoint ale later, jarred by the lingering daylight and the amount of duck fat I’d consumed. All in the name of fresh vegetables.—Jackie Beach