TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Carbonade FlamandeFlemish Beef and Beer Stew
- Total
- 3 hr 30 min
- Difficulty
- ★★☆☆☆
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Prep 15 min
- Cook 3 hr 15 min
A Flemish stew of beef shoulder, sautéed onions and brown beer. Mustard-spread pain d’épices dissolves to thicken the sauce, with sweetness from vergeoise, a soft brown beet sugar, and acidity from vinegar.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
100Authenticity- Boneless whole beef top-blade roast (paleron)1200 gA whole piece of shoulder meat; cut into 5 cm cubes. Use boneless whole top blade (paleron).
- Fine salt13 g12g for the meat and, if needed, 1g to finish.
- Coarsely ground black pepper2 gFor seasoning the meat.
- Rendered pork lard40 gFor searing the meat and cooking the onions. Use rendered pure pork lard, not raw fat or shortening.
- Onions3 onionsAbout 200g each; halve lengthwise, then slice thinly.
- Béghin Say Saveur Vergeoise Brune12 g1 tablespoon; choose the dark Brune variety.
- Wine vinegar15 ml1 tablespoon; red or white.
- Belgian brown abbey beer660 mlUse a Belgian brown abbey beer with gentle bitterness, such as Chimay Red; avoid strongly hoppy beer.
- Bay leaves2 leaves
- Fresh thyme2 sprigs
- Plain pain d’épices (French honey spice bread)100 gUse the plain honey-spice loaf, slightly dry, without icing or jam filling. Weigh 100 g; use the pre-sliced pieces or cut an unsliced loaf into 1.5 cm slices.
- Dijon mustard15 g1 tablespoon.
Method
Cut and season the beef; slice onions and spread the bread
- 1 Cut 1.2 kg boneless whole beef top-blade roast into 5 cm cubes and coat with 12 g salt and 2 g black pepper.
- 2 Halve 3 onions lengthwise and thinly slice along the fibers.
- 3 Weigh 100 g plain pain d’épices. Use the pre-sliced pieces, or cut an unsliced loaf into 1.5 cm slices, and spread 15 g Dijon mustard on one side.
Ready when
Continue when the meat is evenly coated with salt and pepper.
Sear the beef firmly in 2 batches
- 1 Heat 30g lard over high heat in a heavy cast-iron pot about 24cm across and 4L in capacity. Add half the beef with space between the pieces.
- 2 Cook without moving for 2 minutes, then turn to brown all sides for 6 minutes in total and lift onto a tray.
- 3 Sear and remove the remaining beef in the same way.
Ready when
Continue when all sides are deep brown and browned residue remains on the bottom.
Caution
Adding all the meat at once lowers the pan temperature and releases juices instead of browning.
Brown onions with vergeoise and deglaze with vinegar
- 1 Add the remaining 10g lard to the same pot and cook the onions over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- 2 Sprinkle in 12g vergeoise and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to caramelize.
- 3 Add 15ml wine vinegar, scrape the browned residue with a wooden spatula and cook for 30 seconds to reduce the vinegar.
Ready when
Continue when the onions are softened and light brown and the sharp vinegar smell has gone.
Caution
High heat after adding sugar burns the onions and makes them bitter.
Return beef, add beer and top with spice bread
- 1 Return the beef with its tray juices and pour in 660ml brown beer.
- 2 Immerse 2 bay leaves and 2 thyme sprigs, then lay the mustard-spread spice bread on top, mustard side down.
- 3 Bring to a boil over medium heat and cover.
Ready when
Continue when the beer reaches at least 2/3 of the beef’s height and the liquid bubbles gently throughout.
Braise covered for 2 hours 30 minutes
- 1 Reduce to very low heat and simmer covered for 2 hours 30 minutes.
- 2 Every 30 minutes, stir broadly from the bottom to blend the dissolving bread into the sauce.
- 3 Remove the bay leaves and thyme stems, taste and season with 0.5–1g salt if needed.
Ready when
The stew is ready when a skewer enters the meat easily and the dissolved spice bread has thickened the sauce to coat a spoon.
Caution
Once dissolved, the spice bread tends to settle on the bottom and can scorch if not stirred.
Alcohol remains even after 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking; take care when serving children or people sensitive to alcohol.
About this dish
Estaminet was a word for a tavern until the 18th century, and establishments bearing that name still exist in northern France and Belgium. Beneath exposed beams, they serve carbonade with fries. This beef, onion and beer stew is a specialty of Flanders on both sides of the border, though some accounts place its origin in Belgium.
Beer is a traditional Flemish drink, and Hauts-de-France still has about 200 breweries. Jenlain, Ch’ti and Trois Monts are well-known brands of the top-fermented beer style called bière de garde.
Flemish cooking includes many long, covered braises. Beer used in a stew is said to make the sauce smooth and add a measured bitterness.
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