Svíčková

Ingredients

Beef

• 1.2 kgbeef top round or sirloin in one piece
• 100 gsmoked streaky bacon, cut into thin lardons for larding
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspground black pepper

Sauce base

• 80 gbutter
• 2large carrots, roughly chopped
• 1parsley root, roughly chopped
• 200 gceleriac, roughly chopped
• 2onions, roughly chopped
• 6allspice berries
• 10black peppercorns
• 4bay leaves
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 2 tbspwhite wine vinegar
• 1 tbspcaster sugar
• 500 mlbeef stock
• 250 mldouble cream
• 1 tbspplain flour
• juice of half a lemon

To serve

• houskovy knedlik (bread dumplings), 12 slices
• 150 mlwhipped cream
• 6 tbspcranberry compote
• 6lemon slices

Directions

1. Lard the beef: pierce it with a thin knife along the grain and push a bacon lardon into each hole. This bastes the lean meat from the inside as it braises.
2. Season the beef with salt and pepper, brown it hard in half the butter in a casserole until deeply crusted on all sides, then lift it out.
3. Add the rest of the butter and the chopped carrot, parsley root, celeriac and onion. Fry over medium heat for 15 minutes until the vegetables are properly browned at the edges, not just softened.
4. Add allspice, peppercorns, bay and thyme, then the vinegar and sugar, and let them cook down to a glaze, 2 minutes.
5. Return the beef, pour in the stock, cover and braise at 160°C (325°F) for 2 to 2.5 hours, turning once, until a skewer slides in with no resistance.
6. Lift the beef out and rest it wrapped in foil. Fish out the bay leaves, then blend the vegetables and liquid to a completely smooth puree with a stick blender.
7. Whisk the flour into the cream, stir into the sauce and simmer 10 minutes, whisking, until it coats a spoon thickly. Sharpen with lemon juice and check the sweet-sour balance: it should be gently sweet with an acid lift.
8. Slice the rested beef across the grain 1 cm thick, lay it over the sauce with the dumplings, and finish each plate with a spoon of whipped cream, cranberry compote and a lemon slice.

Technique

• The name comes from svickova, the tenderloin, but almost every Czech household cooks it with a cheaper round, which stands up to three hours of braising better.
• The vinegar-and-sugar step is the soul of the sauce. Czech cooks call the target sladkokysela, sweet-sour, and it should be balanced enough that neither is obvious.
• Do not strain the vegetables out. Blending them in is what thickens the sauce; a floury, thin sauce means it was not blended enough.

Substitutions

• No parsley root: use 150 g extra celeriac plus a small handful of flat parsley stalks.

Variations

• Some cooks add 2 tbsp of Dijon-style mustard and a few juniper berries to the vegetable base.
• A festive version finishes the sauce with 100 ml of the cranberry syrup for a deeper pink, sweeter gravy.

History

Beef in a sieved root vegetable cream sauce with cranberry and dumplings; nineteenth-century Czech national revival cookbooks fixed the recipe.

Frequently asked questions

What is Svíčková?

Svíčková is a main from Czechia: beef in creamy root-vegetable sauce with bread dumplings, cranberry. Beef in a sieved root vegetable cream sauce with cranberry and dumplings; nineteenth-century Czech national revival cookbooks fixed the recipe.

How long does Svíčková take to make?

Svíčková takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Svíčková?

Yes, within limits. No parsley root: use 150 g extra celeriac plus a small handful of flat parsley stalks.

What is the most important thing to get right in Svíčková?

Do not strain the vegetables out. Blending them in is what thickens the sauce; a floury, thin sauce means it was not blended enough.