Sauerbraten — marinated beef roast in dark sauce

Cut the onion into thick slivers and the carrot and celeriac into cubes about 2 cm across. Put the bay leaves, lightly crushed juniper berries, cloves and peppercorns into a closable spice bag, or tie them in a piece of muslin. Mix all the cold wine and vinegar with 300 g water. Do not heat the marinade. Choose a snugly fitting glass or stainless steel dish, or a container suitable for food, in which the meat will not have much empty space around it.

Put the beef in the container, arrange all the vegetables around it, add the spice bag and pour over all the marinade. Submerge as much of the meat as possible; choose a better-fitting container rather than adding more vinegar. Cover and refrigerate immediately for 3 days. Turn the meat once a day with clean tongs, especially if a small section rises above the liquid. Keep the container in the fridge throughout. The marinade adds flavor; it does not replace cooking the meat later.

On the day of cooking, preheat the oven to 160°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Lift out the meat and pat it very thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. Pour the marinade through a sieve set over a bowl, keeping all the liquid and all the vegetables. Let the vegetables drain for a few minutes; do not discard them. Set the spice bag aside to use again during braising. Rub all the salt over the meat. Have ready a heavy lidded pot or roasting pan with a capacity of about 4 l, suitable for both the hob and the oven.

Heat all the oil in the pot over a medium-high heat. Add the dried beef and brown for about 8–10 minutes in total, turning until a clearly browned crust forms on several sides. Do not burn the dark residue on the bottom. Transfer the meat to a plate, keeping all the fat and browned residue in the pot. You will return any juices that collect on the plate with the meat.

Add all the drained vegetables to the same pot. Fry for 5–6 minutes, stirring, until they begin to brown lightly. Add all the tomato paste and sugar, and stir for about another minute; do not let them burn. Pour in all the reserved marinade and scrape the browned residue from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the spice bag, bring to the boil and boil for about 3 minutes. Return the meat with all the juices from the plate and bring the liquid back to a gentle simmer.

Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for about 3–3½ hours, carefully turning the meat roughly halfway through. The liquid should only simmer gently. If the bottom starts to dry out noticeably, add some of the allotted boiling water, up to 150 g in total. The meat is ready to slice when a fork slides in easily and the fibres separate without tugging; if it is still firm, braise for another 20–30 minutes. Keep all the sauce and fat.

Lift the meat onto a serving dish, cover and leave for about 10 minutes. Remove the spice bag. Take the pot off the heat and carefully blend all the remaining liquid and all the vegetables with a hand blender, keeping the head submerged so the hot sauce does not splash. Do not pass it through a sieve. Reheat and simmer uncovered for about 10–15 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is smooth and lightly coats a spoon. Add any juices from the resting meat too. Do not discard any of the sauce.

Slice the beef across the grain about 1 cm thick. Put the slices in the hot sauce for 2–3 minutes to heat through evenly, without boiling vigorously. Divide the meat and all the sauce into six portions. The recipe does not include extra dumplings or vegetables to serve alongside. Transfer leftover portions to smaller containers, cool quickly and refrigerate. Use within 2–3 days, reheating only the amount needed with its sauce until hot throughout.