Sunday Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding
A piece of roast beef, rare, accompanied by puffed and crispy Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes cooked in dripping, and gravy. The pinnacle of British home cooking.
A piece of roast beef, rare, accompanied by puffed and crispy Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes cooked in dripping, and gravy. The pinnacle of British home cooking.
On Sundays, I liked to cook for the people I love, not for the gallery. You heat your beef dripping until it smokes before you pour in the Yorkshire batter — that's the secret, otherwise it won't rise, it'll stay flat and sad. The roast, you let it rest, you hold yourself back from carving too soon. With a good gravy, crispy potatoes and the family around, that's when I truly felt at home.
- •Joint of beef for roasting — a fine piece (centre roast)
- •Beef dripping — generous (cooking and Yorkshire pudding)
- •Flour, eggs, milk — equal parts (Yorkshire pudding batter)
- •Potatoes — several (roasted)
- •Cooking juices — all (gravy)
Sunday Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding
A piece of roast beef, rare, accompanied by puffed and crispy Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes cooked in dripping, and gravy. The pinnacle of British home cooking.
Why this dish? The Sunday roast is the most solemn family meal of the week in Britain. McQueen, devoted to his family despite fame, loved to cook for his loved ones: this shared roast embodies that moment of reunion around the table.
On Sundays, I liked to cook for the people I love, not for the gallery. You heat your beef dripping until it smokes before you pour in the Yorkshire batter — that's the secret, otherwise it won't rise, it'll stay flat and sad. The roast, you let it rest, you hold yourself back from carving too soon. With a good gravy, crispy potatoes and the family around, that's when I truly felt at home.
Ingredients (period version)
- Joint of beef for roasting — a fine piece (centre roast)
- Beef dripping — generous (cooking and Yorkshire pudding)
- Flour, eggs, milk — equal parts (Yorkshire pudding batter)
- Potatoes — several (roasted)
- Cooking juices — all (gravy)
Ingredients
- Roast beef (rib or sirloin) — 1.2 kg (roast)
- Beef dripping or oil — 4 tbsp (cooking)
- Flour — 140 g (Yorkshire pudding + gravy)
- Eggs — 4 (Yorkshire pudding)
- Milk — 200 ml (Yorkshire pudding)
- Roasting potatoes — 1 kg (roast potatoes)
- Beef stock — 400 ml (gravy)
Method
- Bring the beef to room temperature 1 hour before, season, sear then roast at 200°C (about 15 min per 500g for rare). Rest for 20 minutes under foil.
- Prepare Yorkshire pudding batter: whisk flour, eggs and milk, season, rest 30 minutes.
- Heat dripping in muffin tins in a very hot oven (220°C) until smoking, pour in batter and bake 20–25 minutes without opening the door until puffed and golden.
- Parboil the potatoes, shake to roughen edges, then roast in hot dripping until crispy.
- Make gravy with the cooking juices, a little flour and stock. Slice the beef and serve everything together, piping hot.
How it was made : Yorkshire pudding was once cooked under the spit, in a pan placed to catch the dripping fat from the roast — it was eaten with gravy before the meat to fill stomachs and save on the more expensive meat. Hot beef fat remains the key to its famous rise.
The contemporary twist : Plate a single large slice of pink beef, a spectacularly tall Yorkshire pudding and a mirror of gravy — a clean, theatrical plate.
Alexander McQueen · Charactorium
