R E C I P E S
Grillade des Mariniers du Rhône (Sliced Beef Stewed in Red Wine)
The Rhone River boatmen have disappeared, but they leave behind a reputation for certain dishes, including matelotes (red-wine-and-onion fish stews) and grillades, such as this one. André Besson, a retired chef who lives in Montreal, worked for two years at La Pyramide in Vienne, just south of Lyon. That was the restaurant of Fernand Point, the greatest French chef of the 20th century. (Point had already died but he had been Besson’s godfather and had poured Champagne into the baptismal font.) Point used to walk along the banks of the Rhone, talking with the mariniers and sometimes sharing their meals. The following rustic dish is from La Pyramide, and Besson believes it is the grillade just as the boatmen cooked it, though Point’s classical training must have had an effect. The word grillade suggests something grilled, but Besson explains that around Lyon, it refers to the cut of beef called pointe de culotte, a small piece between the sirloin and the rump (it’s also called pièce de bœuf, as when it is braised for bœuf à la mode). American butchers divide the carcass differently, and the cut is unobtainable here. Rump roast comes closest. Probably better, if less traditional, are cuts from the blade or shoulder (in slices an inch, or 2 cm, thick or a little thicker), including short ribs. Optionally, Besson says, marinate the meat for 2 hours in 3/8 cup (100 ml) of vinegar, ground black pepper, and 3/8 cup (100 ml) of walnut oil. You can find recipes for grillade des mariniers that marinate for one or two days. The simplest old methods call for moistening with vinegar and water. Wine, when used, was probably more often red than white. The grillade was served, says Besson, with steamed potatoes, tagliatelle, turnip gratin, salsify with persillade (very finely chopped parsley and raw garlic), or Jerusalem artichokes. Besson may have made some small alterations in Point’s recipe, and in a few places where I thought more specificity was needed, I’ve done the same.By Edward Behr
2/3 pound (300 gr) white onions, finely chopped
8 tablespoons (100 gr) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
¾ cup (200 ml) good red-wine vinegar
1¼ cups (300 ml) dry white wine
3 salted anchovies, the filets cleaned of salt, stripped from the bones, and rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped herbs (parsley, chives, chervil)
1¾ pounds (800 gr) pointe de culotte or rump roast (see note above for other possible cuts), sliced across the grain in 4 pieces
3/8 cup (100 ml) excellent, fresh-tasting olive oil
salt
black pepper
In a nonreactive pan, cook the onions with half of the butter and the sugar over high heat for 5 minutes, and continue to cook over low heat for another 5 minutes, until the onions have a golden color. Add the tomato. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and reduce the mixture over high heat by two-thirds to tame its acidity. Add the wine and cook slowly for 10 minutes. Mash the anchovy filets with the remaining butter and the herbs; set aside.
In a separate nonreactive pan over medium-high heat, brown the slices of meat on both sides in olive oil. Pour off the fat, add the onion mixture to the meat, salt very lightly, and cook over very low heat, covered, for at least 2 hours. Divide the slices of meat among 4 heated plates. Return the sauce to the heat, skim most of the fat from the surface, boil to thicken just a little, as needed, and whisk in the anchovy-herb butter — then don’t let it boil again. Taste for salt and pepper. Coat each slice of meat with a good spoonful of sauce. Serves 4.
From The Art of Eating Cookbook
