Carbonade (Carbonata) beef stew
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This dish, typical of the Valle d’Aosta, gets its name from the dark colour of the salted beef traditionally used to make it (from Carbone, the Italian for coal). It’s a hearty meat dish, perfect for mountain life. It’s obviously related to the Flemish stew – the main difference being the use of beer or wine. Valle D’Aosta’s important location for European trade makes it difficult to say precisely where the recipe originated first – Italy or Norther Europe – not that it matters. This is a dish that travellers/tourists/locals have all associated with Valle D’Aosta
Ingredients
800grms lean beef (if you can get Salted Beef all the better, though you’ll need to marinate it overnight to soften it up).
50grms of butter
white flour
an onion
strong red wine
salt, pepper.
How to do it
Cut the beef into medium sized pieces, and cover in flour, then brown in a pan with the butter. When browned, place it apart, while in the same pan brown the chopped onion. Then add the meat to the onion, and add red wine, cooking slowly. Add red wine as and when needed. The cooking time traditionally was up to three hours, but you can reduce that significantly if you’re using lean beef.
This is the basic recipe, but you can obviously add herbs and spices to the stew according to taste. Common recipes include garlic, cloves, and even cinnamon.
Serving Suggestion
Serve atop a plate of potatoes, or better still, a plate of polenta
To drink
A Valle d’Aosta DOC Tourette, a crisp, dry red wine made from 70% Petit Rouge grapes. It goes perfectly with stews, red meats and game.
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Tags: beef, garlic, meat stews, polenta, trade
