Boeuf Bourguignon

Julia Child's favourite — beef slow-braised in Burgundy wine with pearl onions, mushrooms and lardons until fall-apart tender.

Boeuf bourguignon is the dish that brought French cuisine to America, immortalised by Julia Child who made it the centrepiece of her 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The dish originates in Burgundy, where beef and wine are both produced in abundance. Using a full bottle of wine is not extravagance but necessity — a partial bottle produces a thinner, less complex sauce. The dish was made famous to a new generation by the 2009 film Julie and Julia. The technique of browning the beef in batches over very high heat — each piece needing 8-10 minutes of undisturbed searing — is the step most often skipped and the most important.

Use a full bottle of good Burgundy — never cooking wine. Brown the beef in batches very well before braising. Cook at 160°C for at least 3 hours. Better the next day.