In the early days of my marriage, before I knew much about food, my husband took me to meet his aunt who lived in Ramatuelle, in the South of France. It was a blisteringly hot day so I was surprised to be served stew, eaten lukewarm with hot, buttered macaroni. This, I discovered later, was Provençal daube. It was, of course, delicious, the big chunks of beef falling apart as my fork struck, the wine juices scented with thyme, bay and orange zest, barely thickened with tomato and onion.
There were salty notes from anchovy and olives, counterbalanced by the sweetness of carrots, but it was the last-minute addition of finely chopped garlic and parsley that gave the dish vitality. It was one of many discoveries on that trip that transformed my cooking when I got home.
Since then, I’ve come across many different recipes for this classic dish. Every cook has his or her own particular way of preparing it, but long, slow cooking is imperative and the distinctive flavour comes from dried orange zest and tomatoes, anchovy and olives, with garlic and local herbs, and wine.
Some cooks put the olives in whole with coarsely chopped anchovy that melts into the juices. Others add both in tapenade form, pounded into a paste with Dijon mustard, garlic and capers, to stir through the stew for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Like all stews, but particularly this one, it’s all about balance. It can be made with red or white wine. When the meat is left in really big pieces, which it often is, it is usually marinated overnight in the wine.
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This version, made with tender, lean and gamey venison, doesn’t need to be marinated because all the flavours will inculcate their way into the meat during long slow cooking.
It will taste even more interesting if the daube is left overnight for the flavours to develop. Venison gives the daube an extra layer of flavour, transforming it, somehow, into more of a wintry dish.
If you prefer to make it with beef, I would suggest a cut from the forequarters of the beast, the shoulders and lower legs, which are the parts that have been worked the hardest; chuck, shin, top rump, silverside or hanger steak.
Wide flat noodles, macaroni, or salad potatoes seem more appropriate than mashed potato with this kind of stew but it’s good too with baguette, unsalted butter and a tossed green salad.
To dry orange zest, remove paper-thin zest with a potato peeler and hang near a window for 24 hours to dry. Alternatively, bake in a low oven for about 30 minutes. The haunting orange flavour is surprisingly powerful, so don’t go mad with it but do try it in other dishes for a taste of the South of France.
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Venison Provençal daube
Serves 6
Prep 45 min
Cook 2½-3 hours
Ingredients
1.5kg venison shoulder, haunch, thick flank or shin
250g dry cured smoked streaky bacon
2 large onions
2 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large carrots
6 plum tomatoes
400ml dry red or white wine
2 bay leaves
Few sprigs of thyme
1 strip dried orange zest
Approx 200ml water
For tapenade/olives and anchovy:
70g pitted dry black olives with herbs
1 garlic clove
4 canned anchovy fillets
1tbsp capers in brine
1tsp smooth Dijon mustard
4 tbsp olive oil
For persillade/garnish:
50g flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
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Method
Heat the oven to 140C/gas mark 1. Cut the venison into 5cm cubes approx 2.5cm thick. Slice across the bacon to make batons. Halve, peel, trim and finely slice the onions. Crack the garlic with your fist and flake away the skin. Heat the oil in a spacious saut? pan and cook the bacon, tossing regularly until the fat runs and crisps. Spread most of the bacon across the base of a large, oven-proof casserole dish. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook until golden. Scoop them out of the pan and scatter over the bacon. Brown the venison in batches over a high heat and pile over the onions as you go. Add the orange zest and carrots, scraped and cut into big pieces.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes. Count to 30, drain, cut out the core in a pointed plug shape, remove the skin and chop. Scatter the tomatoes over the carrots followed by the last of the bacon.
Add the wine to the saut? pan with the bay leaves and thyme. Bring to the boil while stirring. Simmer for a couple of minutes and pour over the daube. Top up with about 200ml water so the contents are just submerged. Bring the daube up to the boil and remove from the heat. Drape greaseproof paper over the top, tucking it down to touch the food. Cover with lid. Cook for two hours. Stir in the tapenade and cook for a further 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the meat, cooking until tender. Serve, or leave overnight, reheat and serve with the persillade.
To make the tapenade, chop anchovies and peel the garlic. Place in the bowl of a food processor with other ingredients. Blitz for at least 1 minute until thick and smooth. To make the persillade, pick the parsley leaves from the stalks and finely chop to make at least 3 tbsp. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Chop the two together to mix thoroughly.