Pot-au-feu

A (French) pot-au-feu, with this recipe.

Vegetables to be cooked in the pot au feu: carrots, turnips, leeks, onions

The pot-au-feu (French pronunciation: [potofø], "pot on the fire") is a French beef stew. According to chef Raymond Blanc, the pot-au feu is "the quintessence of French family cuisine, it is the most celebrated dish in France. It honours the tables of the rich and poor alike."

There are variations as to the cuts of beef and the vegetables involved, but a typical pot-au-feu contains:

• low-cost cuts of beef that need long cooking;
  • usually some kind of cartilaginous meat, such as oxtail and marrowbone;
• sausage: such as a Morteau sausage, or other strongly flavoured, uncooked smoked sausage
• vegetables: carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, and onions;
• spices: bouquet garni, salt, black pepper and cloves.

Cooking cartilaginous meat in the stew will result in gelatin being dissolved into the broth. If the stew is allowed to cool, the broth may turn into a jelly, resulting in an interesting texture. Allowing the stew to cool also allows the removal of excess fat, which floats on the surface and congeals.

The dish is often served with coarse salt and strong Dijon mustard and sometimes also with gherkins pickled in vinegar.

The pot-au-feu broth may be used as a soup (often enriched with rice, pasta or toasted bread), as a base for sauces, or for cooking vegetables or pasta. There are ready-to-use concentrated cubes to make what purports to be pot-au-feu broth when water is added.

A pot-au-feu could be a continuous affair in the past, with new ingredients added as some is used; nowadays houses do not have a permanent fire in cold weather, and the dish is cooked for a specific meal.

Many countries have similar dishes with local ingredients.

See also

• Eintopf
• Hot pot (Steamboat)
• New England boiled dinner
• Cocido
• Oden
• Pho
• Stew
• Cozido à Portuguesa
• Kig ha farz
• Jjigae
• Pot roast