You put beef, marrow bones and winter vegetables into a pot and simmer until you have two courses from one: a clear broth first, then the meat and vegetables, with coarse salt, mustard and cornichons. The broth should be clear enough to read a spoon through. Spread the marrow on toast.
Every French household has a version. It is not a regional dish so much as the country's idea of a family meal — the pot that simmers all afternoon, the table that waits. Poitou, Paris, Lyon: the grammar does not change.
Start in cold water and skim thoroughly; that is how the broth stays clear. Simmer, never boil. Serve the soup first, then the meat. A Beaujolais is enough.
Method
- 01
Put the meats and marrow bones in a large pot and cover them with cold water — cold, always, so the scum rises slowly and you can catch it. Bring it slowly to a simmer and skim thoroughly, every wisp of foam, until the surface is clear. This is how the broth stays clear enough to read a spoon through. If you start in hot water you will have a cloudy soup, and there is no repairing it.
- 02
Add the clove-studded onion, the bouquet garni, the peppercorns and a little salt — not too much; the broth will reduce. Simmer very gently for 2 hours, the surface barely trembling, skimming as needed. Never let it boil; a rolling boil emulsifies the fat and clouds everything. The house will smell of beef and patience, which is the dish working.
- 03
Add the leeks, carrots, turnips and celery, and cook 40 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender but not collapsing. Add the cabbage for the last 20 minutes so it keeps a little bite. Taste the broth and correct the salt. The vegetables should taste of themselves and of the beef; if they taste of nothing, they needed more time.
- 04
Serve the broth first, in warm bowls, with toasted bread and a slice of marrow spread on it like butter. Then bring the meat and vegetables on a platter, with coarse salt, Dijon mustard and cornichons. Two courses from one pot; that is the national boiled dinner. Don't dress it up.
