flipDaube Niçoise
Daube Niçoise
Why this dish? The Sunday stew was the heart of the structured family meal of the Niçois bourgeoisie. Daube à la niçoise, flavored with wine, orange zest, and dried porcini mushrooms, is the slow, generous dish that gathered the family around the table — precisely the attachment to family meals that Simone Veil had.
Beef long braised in red wine with bacon, onions, dried orange zest, and porcini mushrooms, until meltingly tender. In Nice, a portion is saved to coat fresh pasta (Sunday ravioli) the next day.
Daube was the Sunday dish, the one started the day before that perfumed the whole household. The secret, I confide to you, lies in the dried orange zest and the slowness: you must never rush the cooking, just a bare simmer. We always reserved a portion, because the next day, bound with pasta, it was almost better than the day before. It is a cuisine of patience, and patience, believe me, I know its worth.
- •Beef for braising (chuck, cheek) — a nice piece (stewed meat)
- •Red wine from Provence — enough to cover (braising liquid)
- •Bacon, onions, carrots — according to the piece (aromatic base)
- •Dried orange zest, dried porcini mushrooms — a little (Niçois signature)
- •Black Nice olives — a handful (finishing)
- •Olive oil, bouquet garni — a drizzle, one bouquet (aroma)
Daube Niçoise
Beef long braised in red wine with bacon, onions, dried orange zest, and porcini mushrooms, until meltingly tender. In Nice, a portion is saved to coat fresh pasta (Sunday ravioli) the next day.
Why this dish? The Sunday stew was the heart of the structured family meal of the Niçois bourgeoisie. Daube à la niçoise, flavored with wine, orange zest, and dried porcini mushrooms, is the slow, generous dish that gathered the family around the table — precisely the attachment to family meals that Simone Veil had.
Daube was the Sunday dish, the one started the day before that perfumed the whole household. The secret, I confide to you, lies in the dried orange zest and the slowness: you must never rush the cooking, just a bare simmer. We always reserved a portion, because the next day, bound with pasta, it was almost better than the day before. It is a cuisine of patience, and patience, believe me, I know its worth.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef for braising (chuck, cheek) — a nice piece (stewed meat)
- Red wine from Provence — enough to cover (braising liquid)
- Bacon, onions, carrots — according to the piece (aromatic base)
- Dried orange zest, dried porcini mushrooms — a little (Niçois signature)
- Black Nice olives — a handful (finishing)
- Olive oil, bouquet garni — a drizzle, one bouquet (aroma)
Ingredients
- Beef chuck or cheek — 1.2 kg (stewed meat)
- Full-bodied red wine — 75 cl (braising liquid)
- Smoked pork belly, onions, carrots — 150 g + 2 + 2 (aromatic base)
- Dried orange zest + dried porcini mushrooms — 1 strip + 20 g (Niçois signature)
- Black Nice olives — 100 g (finishing)
- Olive oil, bouquet garni, garlic — 3 tbsp + 1 + 3 cloves (aroma)
Method
- The day before if possible, marinate the beef cut into large cubes in the wine with onions, carrots, garlic, bouquet garni, and orange zest.
- Drain and pat the meat dry, brown it in olive oil with the bacon, then add the drained vegetables.
- Pour in the strained marinade, add the rehydrated porcini, cover, and cook at a very gentle simmer for 3–4 hours (or in the oven at 150°C).
- Add the olives 20 minutes before the end; adjust seasoning.
- Serve with fresh pasta or steamed potatoes, and save a portion for the next day.
How it was made : Niçois daube was distinguished from Provençal daube by the orange and sometimes the porcini; it was cooked in an earthenware "daubière" placed at the corner of the fire for hours. The leftover juice was traditionally used to bind the stuffing for Sunday ravioli: nothing was wasted.
The contemporary twist : Serve the shredded daube on a cloud of olive oil mashed potatoes, with a few glistening olives and a veil of fresh grated orange zest at the last moment.
Sources : Jacques Médecin, La Cuisine du Comté de Nice (1972)
Simone Veil · Charactorium
