Beef brisket bordelaise
In the heat of Cape Town’s city bowl, the doors of Societi Bistro spill out onto a sun-filled patio while, inside, tables surround fireplaces and exposed stone walls that hark back to the 1860s. Chef Stefan Marais wryly recalls how, nearly three years ago, he and the restaurant team worked 20-hour days to restore the house to its former glory, taking turns sleeping in the back office.
Photographs by Julian Goldswain
There’s something comforting about knowing that such is a chef’s passion, chipping away at plaster for hours a day. Yet, Stefan ended up working with food quite by accident, having planned a career in finance. Thankfully, a gap year landed him in the kitchen of the Hotel Riviera in Sidmouth, Devon, and the bug bit. After cooking apprenticeships in the UK, he high-tailed back to SA where he worked at The Table Bay and the Mount Nelson, before finding his home at Societi Bistro.
Simple, moreish food is the crux behind his cooking philosophy. ‘Seasonality’ and ‘provenance’ are words Stefan frequently mentions in our interview, explaining how he goes out of his way to source local fresh produce, constantly asking, “Where does this food come from?”
It’s important for consumers to be asking this same question he insists. “It’s scary how many suppliers actually can’t tell you where, for instance, their meat comes from. I’m looking to get more answers. And I’m hoping that this will encourage more people to do the same.”
Stefan is an advocate of nose-to-tail cooking and eating – using the whole animal and allowing nothing to go to waste – but this is an exception rather than the norm in South African kitchens. Nevertheless, he likes to cook with less commonly used cuts of meat, such as beef brisket, a cut from the breast or lower chest of the animal. It’s this that he pairs with the Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.
It can be a little bit tough, but cooked with time, love and care, its flavour is hard to beat. Its richness complements the wine’s full mouthfeel while the marrow “mellows the tannic structure”. “This is a real food wine that wants a rich, wintery dish,” says Stefan. “The pea and mint croquettes echo the hint of mint in the wine.”
Together with using cheaper cuts of meat, great bistro cooking boils down to “good techniques and good sauces”, says Stefan.
BEEF BRISKET BORDELAISE
(SERVES 6)
1.5kg beef brisket (off the bone – cut into six pieces)
1 bottle good, hearty red wine
1 each: carrot, onion, celery stalk, all diced
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bouquet garni
1kg beef marrowbones
roughly 100g flour seasoned with salt and pepper
50g butter
1. Marinate the brisket in the wine with the veggies, garlic and bouquet garni overnight.
2. The next day, remove the meat from the wine and strain off the vegetables. Retain both the vegetables and the wine.
3. Dust the brisket in seasoned flour. Heat the butter in a pan and brown the meat on all sides. Place the brisket in a deep braising dish.
4. Sauté the veggies for two minutes in the same pan and add to the brisket. Add the reserved wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture into the braising dish through a sieve and cover the meat with water (so that it is just covered in liquid, but not swimming!). Place a lid on the dish, or cover with foil. Cook in the oven at 150°C for four to five hours.
5. While this is cooking, place the marrowbones into cold water for half-an-hour. Using your fi nger, push the marrow out from the one end. Poach in boiling, salted water for two minutes and refresh in ice water. Slice into discs and reserve in the fridge.
6. Remove the brisket from the oven and check that it is soft and almost falling apart. Rest the brisket in its cooking liquid for at least half-an-hour. Then strain the liquid into another pan and gradually heat it on a stovetop, reducing the liquid by half. Once reduced, turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, add the meat to the sauce and warm through.
7. When you are ready to serve, add the bone marrow discs into the sauce and allow to rest for two minutes.
8. Serve with pea and mint croquettes and buttery mashed potatoes.
PREPARED BY
Stefan Marais of
SOCIETI BISTRO
50 Orange Street, Cape Town
TEL: 021 424 2100
www.societi.co.za
