This imposing edifice in the cover picture is the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Notice the giant dome, commonly known as Il Duomo, or “The Dome”. When you say “Il Duomo”, that is the ONLY dome to which that title refers. For the longest time, it was the largest brick dome in the world. It was built by Fillipo Brunelleschi, a total diva of an architect and a sculptor. (For more on what a total madman he was, check out this video by Overly Sarcastic Productions) Anyway, while the Duomo was being built, Brunelleschi was having worker problems. In order to work, the workers had to climb up a bunch of scaffolding. Then, when they went down to lunch, they would often not return. Which, diva as he was, pissed Brunelleschi off to no end. One day, as he was walking past the terra cotta factories so common in Tuscany, he happened upon some brick makers who would put tough cuts of beef into a terra cotta pot with wine and pepper, and maybe some herbs, place it next to the kiln, and the meat would slowly cook so the workers could have their lunch right there. Struck by this inspiration, Brunelleschi BUILT A KITCHEN on the scaffolding and would haul up pots of beef and wine to have them cook while the workers built the Duomo. The workers then had no excuse to descend the scaffolding for lunch, as lunch was now right there. The dish is now called Peposo, the subject of today’s diary. The dish has become perhaps the regional specialty of Tuscany, and to this day the town of Impruneta hold a yearly festival celebrating Peposo, even having a Peposo cook off.
There are several variations, including with different seasonings, using tomato, and what not. But the original dish had three ingredients: Beef, wine, and pepper. Today I’ll be using Chef John’s basic recipe. To start, you will need short ribs:
After salting, take some garlic, a pinch of salt, then a bit of tomato paste. I also add anchovy paste because anchovies are “Italian MSG”. Put them in a mortar and pestle and make a paste
When you get a paste, rub it all over the meat and then add two kinds of pepper: Freshly ground, and whole peppercorns you crack. So you get a mix of ground and big pieces.
Place the ribs bone side down in your pan. Add at least 2 cups of a nice red wine. The ideal wine would be Chianti because Tuscany, but I used a cabernet sauvignon. Add fresh rosemary, fresh sage, and a couple of bay leaves.
Bring it to a simmer, lower the heat, and simmer at least 3 hours or until fork tender and the bone can slide easily out very cleanly. When it reaches that point, pull the meat, then reduce the sauce to the thickness you desire, removing as much or as little fat as you wish. After all, you are the Fatboy Slim of how much fat to skim. Serve over polenta, mashed potatoes, rice, or whatever.
Confession time: I let mine go a bit too long and the wine totally reduced, leaving the meat basically frying in beef fat. I got some heavy crustification from all the wine caramelizing to the meat. It was still good. You get that hit of pepper, followed by slight sweetness from the wine, then that tender beef and fat. So here’s what mine looked like. Forgive the blurry picture, I was several LARGE glasses of wine in:
Anyway, I’m DEFINITELY going to make this again, and this time it will be absolutely perfect.
Tonight at Chez Zen, it’s a basic chicken soup the way Mom taught me to make. Golden sticky broth, boiled chicken, and carrots. Perfect.
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