Stifado — beef stew with whole shallots and warm spices

Pat the meat dry and cut it into evenly sized pieces about 4 cm across. Mix with 8 g salt and all the ground pepper. Peel the shallots, keeping each one whole. Trim the dry ends, but do not cut deeply into the base that holds the layers together. Finely chop the garlic. Put the cinnamon, cloves, allspice and bay leaves into a closed spice bag, or tie them in muslin. Have ready a wide, heavy pot with a capacity of about 5 l and a skillet for the shallots.

Heat 10 g olive oil in the pot over medium-high heat. Brown half the beef for about 8–10 minutes, turning until the pieces are browned on several sides. Transfer to a plate. Add another 10 g olive oil and brown the remaining meat in the same way. Do not add all the pieces at once, so they do not start simmering in their own juices. Keep all the fat, browned residue and juices from the plate, but do not burn the bottom of the pot.

Lower the heat. Add the garlic and all the tomato paste to the pot and stir for about a minute. Return all the browned meat with the juices from the plate. Pour in the vinegar, all the tomatoes with their juice and all the water. Add the sugar, the remaining 4 g salt and the spice bag. Stir, loosening the browned residue from the bottom, and bring to a gentle simmer. The liquid should come roughly level with the tops of the meat pieces; leave the shallots for later.

Cover the pot and braise over low heat for about 90–120 minutes. The sauce should only bubble gently. Stir carefully from time to time so the contents do not stick to the bottom. Before adding the shallots, the meat should yield easily to a fork but still hold its shape. If it remains noticeably firm, extend the beef-only braising stage by 15–20 minutes. Leave all the sauce and fat in the pot.

Toward the end of the beef braising time, heat the remaining 20 g olive oil in a wide skillet. Add all the peeled shallots and cook over medium heat for about 8–10 minutes, turning them carefully or gently rocking the skillet. They should turn golden in places but stay whole and fairly firm. Do not separate their layers and do not try to make them fully tender in the skillet. Keep all the olive oil and juices.

When the beef is almost tender, add the shallots with the entire contents of the skillet. Spoon a few tablespoons of sauce from the pot into the skillet, scrape up the flavorful residue and return this sauce to the stew. Gently move the pot so the shallots settle between the pieces of meat. Cover and braise over low heat for about 30–40 minutes. Instead of stirring vigorously, gently rock the pot from time to time so the shallots do not break apart.

By the end, the shallots should be tender but still whole, and the beef should separate easily under a fork. Remove the spice bag. If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered over gentle heat for about another 5–10 minutes. It should lightly coat the meat and shallots, not form a watery soup. Do not reduce it for a long time if the shallots are already very delicate. Do not pour off any fat or sauce.

Serve the stifado hot. Divide the meat and whole shallots into six portions, then spoon over all the remaining sauce. The recipe covers stifado alone, without extra bread, rice or potatoes. If saving some for later, transfer it to smaller containers, cool quickly and refrigerate. Use within 2–3 days, reheating only the portion needed until hot throughout. Gently move the pan while reheating to keep the shallots whole.