Beef Daube Provencal (Red Wine Stew)

Beef Daube Provencal is a classic beef stew from the South of France, the beef braised in red wine with vegetables, herbs and orange peels. It can be served with rice, fresh tagliatelle, warm or cold.

Jump to:

• What Daube means
• What vegetables and herbs are used in the daube Provencal
• What meat to use for the Daube
• How to make the Daube Provencal
• What to serve with the beef daube
• Top tips
• Recipes you might also like
• 📋Daube Provencal

What Daube means

Daube is a cooking method to braise either meat, fish or vegetables with wine. The word has Spanish origins, dobar, to braise. Daube usually refers to beef cooked in wine with herbs and vegetables, very common in the South of France.

Daube is very different than beef Bourguignon which is also beef cooked in wine. The Bourguignon is cooked for only 2 hours, while the Daube is cooked for 3. The vegetables in the Bourguignon are onions and mushrooms, while in the Daube there are carrots, tomatoes and orange peels which are ingredients more typical from the South of France. Another big difference is that in the Bourguignon the meat is first coated with flour and butter is used, while the Daube is cooked with vegetable oil.

What vegetables and herbs are used in the daube Provencal

In the daube Provencal the following vegetables are used:

• 2 onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ orange peels
• bouquet grani

Bouquet Garni is a selection of herbs wrapped in a leek leaf. The herbs are usually bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and sage.

Wrapping the herbs in a leek leaf instead of a cotton bag adds an extra depth of flavor to the dish.

What meat to use for the Daube

The best cuts of beef to use in the stew are the cheaper cuts, usually well-worked muscles. Because they work a lot, they are lean and tough but with many connective tissues. Those tissues melt when cooked for a long time forming thick creamy gelatine.

In the chart below you can see where those cuts are located. They are called:

• 8 & 9 Shank in Italian Campanello or Muscolo, in French Jarret, Gîte
• 10 & 11 Round in Italian Girello or Controgirello, in French Semelle, Jumeau
• 12 Chuck in Italian Giovarro or Collo, in French Collier

If you want to know more about the difference among those cuts you can read an interesting article on Seriouseats.com : Stew Science: How to Choose the Best Cuts for Beef Stew.

Are you interested in knowing more about beef cuts and their names in French and Italian? You can find more information in the article: Cuts of Beef for Barbecuing 

How to make the Daube Provencal

1. In a casserole pour 2 tablespoon of oil
2. Add the bacon,
3. then all the vegetables
4. Lay the beef

5. Hide the chopped garlic between the meat
6. Season with salt and pepper
7. Add the bouquet grani
8. and the orange peels
9. Cover and cook at high heat for 10 minutes

10. Pour 1 cup of red wine
11. Cover and cook in the oven at 300 F - 150C for 3 hours

What to serve with the beef daube

The beef daube can be served with rice or fresh tagliatelle. I recommend baked rice pilaf , it is easy to make as it is just baked in the oven.

Julia Child wrote about the Daube Provencal as the last dish she had when she sold her house in the cote d'Azur and she served it with simple boiled rice.

And what about trying them with some nice chunky homemade gnocchi?

For a crispy option you can also serve it with fried polenta or gnocchi alla Romana.

For dessert, I would remain on French Theme and suggest Peach Tart Tatin or Ile Flottant, and a homemade Nocino or Limoncello to digest all

Top tips

• If you like the daube juicier, you can add 1 cup of beef stock
• The original recipe calls for covering the meat with parchment paper and sealing the cover of the casserole with flour mixed with water. I didn't do that but feel free to try if you like
• For wine, I used pinot noir. You can also use a dry white wine

Recipes you might also like

For more potatoes recipes, check out the category: Main Course

Also check the recipes below:

• Beef Pie With Marsala Sauce
• Brazilian Picanha BBQ
• Classic Veal Milanese
• Traditional Cassoulet Recipe
• Magret de Canard à l'Orange Recipe
• Pork Casserole with Pineapple or whatever
• Pulled Pork Pressure Cooker

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