A cassolette (probably a diminutive form of the French word cassole, "small container") is a small porcelain, glass, or metal oven-proof container used for the cooking and serving of individual dishes. Cossolette might have lugs or a short handle (French: cassolette à manche). The word also refers to dishes served in such a container:
- Cassolettes ambassadrice: A ragoût of chicken livers with a duchesse potato border
- Cassolettes bouquetière: Creamed vegetables topped with asparagus tips and cauliflower florets
- Cassolettes marquise: Crayfish tails à la Nantua to which diced truffles and mushrooms have been added, with a border of puff pastry
- Cassolettes régence: a salpicon of chicken breast and truffles in a velouté sauce, topped with asparagus tips with a border of duchesse potatoes
The culinary meaning of the word dates back to the early 19th century. Prior to that (from the 16th century), the same word was used for a vessel to burn incense, or otherwise emit the perfume.
The latter meaning extended to a small pendant with perfumes. Alex Comfort used the term cassolette in The Joy of Sex (1972) for a woman's natural body scent. French dictionaries also record ironic uses for unpleasant odors. A later academic review of human olfaction describes Comfort's use of a woman's "cassolette", glossing the word as "perfume box".
