Daube Provencale — Print Recipe

A slow-braised Provencal beef stew cooked in red wine with olives, tomatoes, and herbs de Provence. Unlike Bourguignon, this southern stew uses orange peel and Mediterranean aromatics for a uniquely sunny flavor.

Ingredients

1kg beef chuck, cut into large chunks
750ml red wine (Cotes du Rhone)
200g carrots, sliced
2 onions, quartered
4 cloves garlic, crushed
200g black olives
400g crushed tomatoes
2 strips orange peel
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1 Marinate the beef chunks overnight in red wine with the garlic, orange peel, bay leaves, and herbs de Provence in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.
2 Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry, then brown the pieces in batches in hot olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven until deeply caramelized on all sides.
3 Add the onions and carrots to the pot and cook for five minutes, then pour in the reserved marinade with its aromatics and the crushed tomatoes.
4 Bring everything to a gentle simmer, cover the pot tightly, and cook in a 150-degree oven for two and a half hours until the beef is fork-tender and falling apart.
5 Stir in the black olives during the last thirty minutes of cooking, then serve the daube over fresh egg noodles or with crusty bread to soak up the rich sauce.

Did You Know?

In Provence, a proper daube was traditionally started three days before serving — one day to marinate, one day to cook, and one day to rest, as the flavors improve dramatically overnight.