Byzantine Beef in 5 Stages

Spring flowers speckle the ground, emerging from the hard soil with a force that only nature understands; a mosaic carpet to hail the new season. Winter’s stark and lifeless domination is finally ebbing away. But I err towards the dramatic. A couple of bright sunny days still come with the shockingly cold gusts that remind us that the days of low and slow stews remain, at least for a few weeks more.

While a mosaic of different flora rid the ground of its dull muddy hues, this stew teases the palate with a variety of spices and flavours: smoky mellowness of cinnamon meeting subtle incense like clove and the long lasting tang of star anise. A veritable bazaar for a single dish. (Sadly, my only experience of a bazaar was in Istanbul where I was entering while all the local traders and visitors were exiting, heading to the nearby mosque for prayer. My personal Canute against the tide. I hate crowds. I didn’t return).

After my visit to Istanbul, I tried to put together something that reminded me of my wonderful experience there, but with a nod to the past. My own melding of East meets West. This is a more updated version.

Ingredients:

1 Carrot diced

1 Onion diced

2 Sticks Celery diced

3-4 Cloves Garlic puréed

500ml Chicken Stock

500ml Red Wine

1Tbsp Tomato Purée

1 Cinnamon Stick

3 Star Anise

5 Cloves

1tspn Allspice

1 Ox Cheek

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Bulgar Wheat (enough for 2 people)

A Knob of Butter

Flat Leaf Parsley (70g packet) finely chopped.

Method

Pre heat the oven to 150C, 300F Gas 2

Stage 1

Chop the vegetables into a reasonable sized dice, they are going to sit in simmering liquid for a long time even if they are to be discarded at the end stage. Pour some olive oil into a frying pan and bring to a medium heat to sweat the carrot, onion and celery until they are translucent. Throw in the garlic and stir a couple of times to perfume. Remove to a lidded casserole. Add the spices and puree and stir it into the vegetable mix.

Stage 2

Raise the heat in the frying pan to hot. Massage the ox cheek with olive oil and season. When the pan is hot enough sear the meat. Do not try and pull the meat from the pan, it should release itself at the point of caramelisation (counting to at least 20 for each facet of the cheek helps). You are looking for woody coloured marbleisation. Once that is done remove the meat to the casserole and pour some of the wine into the frying pan to deglaze. Add that and the rest of the wine and stock to the casserole. There should be enough liquid that the cheek sits on the vegetables but a third sits slightly above the waterline. A Byron of Beef to your Dardanelle sauce. I place foil under the lid to prevent the liquid from evaporating too much.

Place in the oven and walk away for at least 3 hours or until the meat is cooked and looking like it wants to fall apart.

Stage 3

Once done, carefully lift the cheek out of the casserole and drain the liquid through a sieve into a saucepan. Place the beef back into the casserole and let it sit in a warm place. Place the saucepan on a high heat and stirring reduce it down to a single cream consistency. This should take a few minutes depending on your hob. I retain the vegetables for another purpose (see below).

Stage 4

Meanwhile, cook the Bulgar Wheat as per amount you wish according to instructions. (I often cook more than two portions for lunches during the week and use the discarded vegetables to bulk it up, and you can add a knob of butter to give it more creaminess). Fine chop the parsley.

Stage 5

With two forks, shred the meat on a chopping board until it is all pulled. Stir the parsley into the cooked Bulgar Wheat (if you want to add more garlic purée please feel free) and portion out in a ring. Put the shredded cheek in the centre and pour the sauce on and around.

Steel yourself for a succulent and perfumed plate, it may not expressly transport you to the Orient in the way that it brings back memories for me of Istanbul (all be they slightly manufactured in my mind) but the waft of fragrances that fill the kitchen, and the richness of the beef and its sauce will hopefully take your mind wandering from your table to beyond.