Jarret de boeuf

Ingredients

Meat

• 2 kgbeef shank, in thick slices
• cut across the bone
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• black pepper

The pot

• 3onions, chopped
• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoonstomato paste
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• 2stock cubes
• 2bay leaves
• 1 teaspoonblack peppercorns
• 2 litreswater

Vegetables

• 4carrots, in chunks
• 3potatoes, in chunks
• 2sweet peppers, chopped
• 1small cabbage, in wedges
• 2chillies, whole

To serve

• plain rice
• or boule, millet dough
• or bread
• chilli sauce

Directions

1. Rinse the beef shank slices well. Pat every piece completely dry. Season them with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot.
2. Add the shank slices in batches. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Brown them well on both sides. Give each batch about five minutes a side. Lift them out and set them aside. It is worth the extra ten minutes. Add the chopped onions to the pot.
3. Cook them for a good twelve minutes. They should soften and turn deep golden. Add the crushed garlic to them. Cook it for a good two minutes. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Fry it for a good three minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Cook them down for about eight minutes. Return the shank slices to the pot. Lay them in a single layer if you can.
4. Pour in the water to nearly cover them. Crumble in the stock cubes as well. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking it takes several hours. Cover the pot and simmer very gently. Give it at least two and a half hours.
5. Turn the slices once halfway through. Top up with hot water if it reduces too far. Judging the meat takes a fork. Add the carrot chunks in first. Give them a good fifteen minutes.
6. Add the chillies whole and unbroken. They must never burst in the pot. Take the lid off for the last twenty minutes. Let the liquid reduce and thicken. It should coat the meat rather than flood it.
7. Taste it and adjust the salt now. Add more black pepper if it tastes flat. Serving it is done piping hot. Lift the shank slices out carefully. Set one slice on each warm plate. Spoon the vegetables and sauce around it. Serve plain rice alongside it. Put chilli sauce on the table. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• The shank is heavily worked muscle full of connective tissue, which is largely collagen; long moist heat turns that collagen into gelatine, giving a rich sticky sauce and tender meat, and there is no shortcut around the time.
• The shank is cut across the bone so each slice has a ring of marrow that softens and enriches the sauce, and slices about four centimetres thick keep the marrow in place while thin ones lose it into the pot.
• Chad has very large cattle herds and herding supports much of the rural population, with cattle counting as wealth as well as food, which is why a whole braise like this marks an occasion.

Substitutions

• Any slow-cooking beef cut works, though shank with its marrow is the point of the dish.
• Rice or bread stand in for boule, the millet dough.

Variations

• Some cooks add cassava or sweet potato to the pot.
• The vegetables vary with what is available.
• A small spoon is given for eating the marrow from the bone.

History

Beef shank simmered until the marrow softens, a celebration dish in a country where cattle herding is the dominant rural economy.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jarret de boeuf?

Jarret de boeuf is a main from Chad: beef shank braised with vegetables; Chadian celebration classic. Beef shank simmered until the marrow softens, a celebration dish in a country where cattle herding is the dominant rural economy.

How long does Jarret de boeuf take to make?

Jarret de boeuf takes 30 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Jarret de boeuf?

Yes, within limits. Any slow-cooking beef cut works, though shank with its marrow is the point of the dish. Rice or bread stand in for boule, the millet dough.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jarret de boeuf?

Add the shank slices in batches. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Brown them well on both sides. Give each batch about five minutes a side. Lift them out and set them aside. It is worth the extra ten minutes. Add the chopped onions to the pot.