The French house wife has never been a one to throw her money around and was always extremely careful when it came to what she put into the pot. Go to any market out here and you will always be able to pick the best butchers/ vegetable stalls/ or sellers of cheese as those will be the one with the queues.

The cheaper cuts of beef have always been appreciated in France and given a long slow cooking to bring out their succulence.

The canny housewife had a way of economising on the fuel used in these long cooking sessions also.

Knowing that the baker would be finished cooking his bread in the morning she would bring her pot of stew down to the baker to cook in his cooling oven.

There are countless variations to a Daube, which was just called after the Daubiere in which it was traditionally cooked.

This one is from Provençe and includes the bite of some black olives.

Comfort food yes but still very tasty.


Provençal Daube of Beef

(Feeds 8 to 10)
2 kg (4 lbs) Shin of Beef
450 g (1 lb.) Green Streaky Bacon in the piece
110g (4 oz.) Stoned Black Olives
1 kg. (2 lbs) Tomatoes
450 g (1 lb.) Carrots
1 Head Garlic
1 Bottle Red Wine
2 cloves Garlic
4 Onions
1 tbs. Chopped Fresh Thyme
1 strip Orange Peel
Generous grinding of Black Pepper.


24 hours before you want to cook this you want to marinade the meat.

Cut any remaining skin from the shin and cut it into large square chunks.

Crush the two cloves of garlic, peel and quarter the onions and put the meat, the onions, the orange peel, the crushed cloves of garlic and the bottle of wine into a bowl to marinate. Cover this with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.

To cook the dish:

Take the skin from the bacon and put it into cold water. Bring up to the boil, discard the water and cut into chunks.

Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water to peel, then peel and chop roughly.

Cut the carrots in rings. Peel the cloves of garlic and leave whole.

Strain the beef from the marinade and discard the crushed garlic and the orange peel. Keep the quartered onions.

Have ready a large ovenproof casserole with a well fitting lid.(or use a large roasting tin well sealed with two thicknesses of tin foil)

Put a layer of the beef on the bottom of the pot and then a layer of the vegetables, tomatoes ,garlic, carrots and the chopped bacon over it . Sprinkle over the chopped thyme and some ground black pepper. Continue layering the beef with the other ingredients and finish with the chopped olives on top.(this makes it easier to discard these for the non olive eating people)

Bring the strained wine from the marinade to the boil and pour over the ingredients.. They should be just covered. Top up with water if necessary. Cover with the lid or seal with tinfoil.

Put this into a hot oven (Gas 6,200C,400F) for about 20 mts to bring to the boil and then reduce to low (Gas 2,150C, 300F) and cook it for a further two to three hours or more. Check from time to time to make sure it isn't drying out (add more water if necessary)

The beef should be tender enough to eat with a spoon.

This reheats excellently (it actually improves with age) and freezes well.

Traditionally eaten with noodles I prefer it with some plain boiled potatoes to soak up the delicious juices.