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Oxtail à la polonaise

Oxtail is marinated 5–6 hours in red wine with salt, pepper and allspice, browned in butter and braised in a hot oven with onion, carrot and pork fat in reduced wine and brown broth for a total of about 4.5 hours until the meat loosens from the bone. The sauce is strained and thickened with sago flour, and the tail is served in an earthenware pot with mushrooms and chestnut purée.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 189 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Oxtail was a cheap but highly valued ingredient in the bourgeois kitchen of 1914, and Erken gives it a French-inspired treatment here with a red wine marinade, long oven braising, and serving in an earthenware pot (cocotte) with chestnut purée.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Marinate the tail

    Chop the oxtail apart at the joints. Rub the pieces lightly with salt, pepper, and allspice, place them in a small dish, and pour the red wine over them. Turn the pieces every half hour, and let them sit in the wine for 5–6 hours.

  2. 2

    Brown the meat

    Take out the pieces, dry them well, and brown them in butter.

  3. 3

    Assemble the pot

    Brown the onion, carrot slices, and pork fat. Use a saucepan just big enough for the meat. Place the browned tail pieces on the root mixture, and lay half of the roots over the meat.

  4. 4

    Reduce the wine

    Pour the marinade wine into the saucepan, put on the lid, and reduce the wine until it is syrupy.

  5. 5

    Braise

    Pour on just enough brown broth to barely cover the meat. Place the saucepan in a hot oven (about 160 °C (320 °F)) and let it cook about 3 hours, or until no blood comes out when you pierce the meat with a larding needle.

  6. 6

    Strain and continue cooking

    Pour off the drippings and strain them through a piece of muslin back over the tail pieces. Baste the meat now and then and let it continue cooking quite slowly until the meat loosens from the bones – about 4½ hours in all.

  7. 7

    Thicken the sauce

    Finally thicken the drippings with quite a little sago flour.

  8. 8

    Plating

    Place the tail pieces in an earthenware pot together with mushrooms, strain the sauce over, and let everything steep together for 5 minutes. Serve in the pot with chestnut purée.

Changes from the original

Measurements are given in modern units (dl, gram), "pork fat" is interpreted as fresh/lightly salted pork belly, and the roasting temperature for "hot oven" is estimated at 160 °C (320 °F). Brown broth can be replaced with stock or a bouillon cube. Sago flour for thickening can be swapped for cornstarch.

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Time machine – what changed?

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From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
1914 (proofread, p. 189) → Modernised~78% of the text changedremovedadded
Oksehaler, 1 kg. pepper salt allehaande 2 1/2 del. rødvin kg oksehaler (delt i ledd). salt. pepper. allehånde (malt). 2,5 dl rødvin. 1 stor stk løk (stor, i skiver). 30 gr. gulerøtter g gulrot (i skiver). 40 gr. flesk. Halerne hugges g sideflesk (i terninger). smør (til bruning). brun buljong (nok til å dekke kjøttet). 1 ts sagomel (eller maisenna, til jevning). champignon. kastanjepuré (til servering). Hugg oksehalen over i leddene, og stykkerne gnides let leddene. Gni stykkene lett inn med salt, pepper og allehaande, lægges allehånde, legg dem i et litet lite fat og overheldes vinen. Stykkerne vendes hell rødvinen over. Vend stykkene hver halve time; ligger halvtime, og la dem ligge i vinen 5 à 6 timer. Stykkerne tages op og tørres, brunes i smør. Løken, gulerotskiverne 5–6 timer.. Ta stykkene opp, tørk dem godt og flesket brunes, brun dem i smør.. Brun løk, gulrotskiver og flesk. Bruk en kasserolle som er akkurat stor nok til kjøttet. Legg de brunede oksehalestykker lægges herpaa. Halvparten halestykkene på rotblandingen, og legg halvparten av røtterne lægges røttene over stykkerne. Benyt ikke større kasserolle end netop stor nok til, at kjøttet kan rummes i den. Den vin, kjøttet har ligget i, heldes kjøttet.. Hell marinadevinen i kasserollen, lok lægges paa, legg på lokk og kok vinen indkokes, inn til den er blit som en sirup; nu overheldes saa meget sirupsaktig.. Hell på så mye brun buljong, buljong at kjøttet netop nettopp er dækket; dekket. Sett kasserollen sættes i varm ovn (ca. 160 °C) og koker la den koke ca. 3 timer, eller til der det ikke viser sig blod, naar man kommer blod når du stikker i kjøttet med en spækkenaal. Skyen heldes fra spekkenål.. Hell av skyen og siles gjennem sil den gjennom et stykke musselin tilbake over halestykkerne igjen; disse dryppes halestykkene. Dryp kjøttet av og til og steker la det steke videre ganske langsomt, langsomt til kjøttet løsner fra benene, benene – ca. 4 1/2 time ialt. Skyen jevnes tilsidst i alt.. Jevn skyen til slutt med ganske litet sagomel. Halestykkerne lægges lite sagomel.. Legg halestykkene i en ler-cocotte tillike leirgryte sammen med champignons. Sausen siles over, champignon, sil sausen over og la alt trækker trekke sammen i 5 minutter. Serveres Server i cocotten gryten med kastanjepuré til. kastanjepuré.

Note on Modernised

Mål er oppgitt i moderne enheter (dl, gram), «flesk» er tolket som fersk/lettsaltet sideflesk, og steketemperatur for «varm ovn» er anslått til 160 °C. Brun buljong kan erstattes av kraft eller buljongterning. Sagomel til jevning kan byttes med maisenna.

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Frequently asked questions

How long must the oxtails sit in the red wine?
The pieces are placed in 2½ dl red wine and should sit 5–6 hours. Turn the pieces every half hour.
How is the oxtail divided?
The tails are chopped apart at the joints, and the pieces are rubbed lightly with salt, pepper, and allspice before marinating.
Why should the saucepan be small?
Use no larger a saucepan than one the meat barely fits in. Then the liquid covers the meat, and the wine can be reduced to a syrupy consistency before the brown sauce is added.
What is browned together with the meat?
Onion, carrot slices (30 g), and pork fat (40 g) are browned, and the browned oxtail pieces are placed on top. Half of the roots are laid over the pieces.

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