One of the most traditional recipe in French cuisine, and a typical fall and winter dish. Pot-au-feu is quintessential to modern French cuisine and is definitely one of our national dishes.
Until the 18th century, this dish was exclusively regarded as “poor man’s food” before it was adopted and ‘elevated’ by the bourgeoisie. It was one of the only ways lower working class could afford to eat meat.
Many families would always have a pot-au-feu simmering over a fire. They continuously ate from it and added more ingredients to it- usually whatever was available.
Oftentimes, the only meat they could afford was off-cuts and bones that rich people did not want. Simmering these tough cuts for several hours made them tender and allowed nutrients to be extracted into the broth.
When pot-au-feu was adopted by the richer class, they added finer cuts. Today, the dish is on the menu of MANY restaurants and has been reimagined by a multitude of French chefs.
This method is not exclusive to French cuisine, many cultures have figured out this way of making nutritious broth out of scraps.
For our recipe, we have selected a mix of cheaper cuts – neck bones and shank – and fancier ones – oxtail and marrow bones.
Let’s get started!
Pot-au-feu • French Beef Stew
Course: MainCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium8
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hour4
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Ingredients
3 kg 3 beef cuts (shank, shoulder, ribs, neck bones, ox tails, etc.)
4 4 marrow bones
Coarse salt
1 1 medium onion
4 4 cloves
1 tbsp 1 whole peppercorns
400 g 400 carrots
400 g 400 turnips
200 g 200 celery
500 g 500 leeks
1 kg 1 potatoes
1 1 ‘bouquet garni’: 5 stems of parsley, 2 stems of thyme, 1-2 bay leaves
Cornichons (for serving)
Mustard (for serving)
Directions
- Rinse the raw beef cuts and add them in a large bowl.
Cover with cold water. Add 2 handfuls of coarse salt.
Soak for at least 2 hours on the counter. - After 2 hours, drain the salty water and rinse the meat.
- Add the meat in a large pot with a handful of coarse salt.
Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. - As the water heats up, scum will form at the surface. You can scoop some out if the pot starts overflowing.
- Once the water is boiling, drain the water and rinse well the meat. Set aside.
- Peel the onion and cut it in half.
Stick the cloves into the onion. - Make the ‘bouquet garni’ by tying together the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves.
- In a large pot, add the meat, the onion, the peppercorns, and the ‘bouquet garni’.
Note: the pot should be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients- vegetables included! - Cover with cold water.
Note: the amount of water is variable- we use 7 liters for reference. You need at least enough water to cover all the ingredients (vegetables included) for everything to simmer properly. Also, the more water, the more delicious broth you will have! - Bring to a boil. Once boiling, simmer uncovered on low heat for 2 hours.
If more scum forms, scoop it out. - While the pot is simmering, prepare the vegetables:
• Carrots: peel and cut in pieces of 5 cm wide
• Turnips: peel and cut in half
• Celery: keep the thick stems and cut in pieces of 5 cm wide
• Leeks: cut in pieces of 5 cm wide - After 2 hours of simmering, add carrots, turnips, celery, and leeks to the pot.
Simmer uncovered for another hour. - In the meantime, rinse and cut the potatoes in half or quarter depending on their size. Ideally, the pieces should be about 5 cm wide.
- After an hour of simmering, add the potatoes and the marrow bones to the pot.
Remove the bouquet garni.
Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. - Serve in deep plates and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
Optional: serve with mustard and cornichon.
Recipe Video
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