Daube
 | |
| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Region or state | Provence |
| Main ingredients | Beef, wine, vegetables |
Daube (French pronunciation: [dob] ⓘ, Occitan: adòba or adobo) is a French slow-cooked stew, usually of beef, but other meat is sometimes used. The best-known is the bœuf en daube à la provençale, a provençal stew made with cheaper cuts of beef braised in wine, with vegetables, garlic and herbs, and traditionally cooked in a daubière – a braising pot.
Terminology and history
The
In the 18th century daubes were a speciality of the French town of Saint-Malo. The Hymans comment that there were many different types: "artichokes en daube, celery, pork cutlets, goose – all these and many other foodstuffs besides were prepared en daube".[3] Most were made to be eaten cold.[4] Daubes remained popular in 19th century France, but by then were nearly always meat dishes, usually of beef, eaten hot. By the end of the 20th century the term was largely confined to bœuf en daube. The dish came to be seen as rustic and old fashioned and the copper pots – daubières – in which it was traditionally cooked became "a curiosity in antique markets".[3]
Description
Meat
Cooks differ widely as regards the meat for a daube. There is common consent that it should have a long marinade before cooking, but some say it should be cooked as a whole piece, others that it should be cubed or sliced. In their Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Simone Beck and Julia Child describe bœuf en daube à la provençale as a braised pot roast of beef with wine, tomatoes, and provençal flavourings:
Their insistence that the dish contains a whole piece of beef is not shared by some other cooks. Elizabeth David writes in French Provincial Cooking:
The recommended cuts of meat for a daube vary. David favours top rump (also called thick flank);[6] Beck and Child's preference is for topside;[5] Auguste Escoffier, referring to French butchers' cuts, specifies paleron or gîte;[7] Prosper Montagné favours the more expensive rump;[8] Paula Wolfert opts for short rib; Joël Robuchon recommends ox cheeks (and notes that in Provence a daube is sometimes made with beef from the Camargue bull or with lamb shoulder);[9] and Patricia Wells advises using at least three cuts of beef from different parts of the animal, arguing that some – such as plats de cétes – enhance flavour with their cartilaginous bones, others – such as tende de tranche – provide purer meat with little muscle separation, and others – such as paleron add both meat and muscle for added texture.[10][n 1]
Cooking pot
There is, similarly, no unanimity about what a daube is cooked in. In
David writes that the cooking pot may be earthenware, cast iron, copper or aluminium, "wide rather than deep";[6] Beck and Child call for a heavy, covered casserole, without specifying what it is made of.[5]
Wine and other ingredients
The wine in a daube is usually red, but for the bœuf en daube à la provençale Montagné and Wolfert specify white. David, Escoffier, Robuchon and Wells use red, as do Beck and Child, who recommend a complete bottle of strong young red such as Mâcon or Beaujolais.[12] Tomatoes, onions, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper are common to most daubes. Some cooks add other ingredients, which may include anchovies, carrots, cloves, marrow bones, mushrooms, nutmeg, olives, pancetta, orange peel, pork rind, salt pork, tomato purée, and wine vinegar.[12] Some recipes include a small amount of flour to thicken the braising liquid.[12]
Other daubes
Other beef daubes include:
- À l'albigeoise – a pig's trotter and a calf's foot are added to the cooking liquid along with diced beef.[13]
- À l'ancienne – a whole piece of rump, marinated and cooked in white wine and brandy.[13]
- À la béarnaise – diced rump, marinated in red wine and brandy and cooked in the marinade with added beef stock.[13]
- À la corsoise – a whole piece of rolled rib of beef, slowly cooked without wine (fresh tomatoes add sufficient liquid); new potatoes cooked in oil or butter are added along with mushrooms as the dish nears the end of its cooking time.[14]
- À la créole – a New Orleans recipe, in which rum takes the place of wine in the cooking liquid. David comments that few people would detect the difference in the alcoholic ingredient or could say in what precise way the stew differs from the French original.[15]
- À la languedocienne – to the usual beef, red wine, onions and tomatoes are added haricot beans.[16]
- À la niçoise – raw ham, celery and lemon peel are added to slices of beef in the marinade and cooking liquid.[17]
Montagné mentions daubes of chicken, turkey and pheasant,
- Bœuf en daube à la provençale
-
With buttered carrots and peas -
Withlardons, carrots, and button mushrooms, served on parsnip purée -
With potatoes and carrots
Notes, references and sources
Notes
References
- ^ "daube". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "daube", Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Retrieved 29 August 2023
- ^ a b Hyman, p. 245
- ^ Montagné, p. 341
- ^ a b c Beck and Child, p. 229
- ^ a b c David (2008), p. 315
- ^ Escoffier, p. 236
- ^ a b Montagné, pp. 125 and 342
- ^ a b "The Complete Robuchon", The Guardian, 9 August 2010
- ^ a b Wells, p. 253
- ^ Wolfert, pp. 149–151
- ^ a b c Beck and Child, pp. 229–231; David (2008), p. 315; Escoffier, p. 236; Montagné, p. 342; Wells, p. 253; and Wolfert, pp. 149–151
- ^ a b c Montagné, p. 125
- ^ David (1999), p. 500
- ^ David (2008), p. 317
- ^ Floyd, p. 172
- ^ Bickel, p. 409
- ^ Montagné, p. 341
- ^ David (1999), p. 305
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-14-046221-0.
- ISBN 978-1-902304-27-4.
- David, Elizabeth (2008) [1960]. French Provincial Cooking. London: Folio Society. OCLC 809349711.
- OCLC 981486233.
- ISBN 978-0-56-320519-7.
- Hyman, Philip; Mary Hyman (1999). "Daube". In ISBN 978-0-19-211579-9.
- OCLC 1285641881.
- ISBN 978-1-85-626192-0.
- ISBN 978-0-76-457633-1.
See also
- Adobo – Iberian culinary style
- Boeuf bourgignon– French beef dish
- Carne de vinha d'alhos – Portuguese dish, of meat marinated with garlic and wine
- Pot-au-feu – French beef stew
- List of stews
