Svíčková
The Czech and Slovak Sunday classic: larded beef braised over root vegetables that become a silky cream sauce, served with bread dumplings and cranberries.
- prep
- 40 min
- cook
- 2 h 30 min
- total
- 3 h 10 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- hard
Svíčková na smetaně is the dish Czech and Slovak families measure cooks by: beef larded with smoked bacon, braised over a bed of root vegetables, and then the twist, the vegetables themselves are blended and sieved into the cream sauce. Nothing is thickened with flour; the roots are the body.
It arrives at the table with bread dumplings, a spoonful of cranberries, a slice of lemon and a little whipped cream on top. Yes, whipped cream on beef. It has been right for two hundred years.
Svíčková is one of the world's classic dishes from 67 countries.
method
The day before: cut small slits in the beef and push in the bacon strips. Salt it all over and refrigerate overnight.
Brown the beef in the butter in a dutch oven and set aside. Brown the root vegetables and onion in the same pot for 10 minutes.
Add the spices, thyme, vinegar and stock. Sit the beef on the vegetables, cover, and braise at 160°C (320°F) for 2 to 2.5 hours until completely tender.
Rest the beef under foil. Fish out the bay, allspice, peppercorns and thyme stems.
Blend the vegetables with the braising liquid until completely smooth, then push the sauce through a fine sieve back into the pot.
Stir in the cream and mustard, simmer 5 minutes, and balance with sugar, lemon juice and salt; it should land gently sweet-sour.
Slice the beef across the grain, nap generously with sauce, and serve with bread dumplings, cranberries, a lemon slice and a small dollop of whipped cream.
chef's tips
- Parsley root and celeriac are the flavor of the sauce; carrot alone makes it taste like baby food.
- The sieve after blending is what makes the sauce silk instead of purée. Do not skip it.
- The final balance is personal: a little more sugar, a little more lemon, until it tastes like Sunday.