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Ox Tail A La Tartare
Three ox tails cut in pieces three inches long; to this add one quart of stock and a bouquet of sweet herbs, salt and pepper. Let the ox tails simmer two hours in this, then take up, drain and cool. When cold, dip in beaten egg, rolled in fine cracker crumbs and then fried a golden color in hot lard. Pour tartare sauce on middle of cold dish, arrange ox tails on this and garnish with parsley.
A two-stage dish: braise, chill, crumb, fry. The braising liquid is not part of the finished plate, which surprises cooks used to oxtail as a stew.
- Quantity and yieldThree oxtails is a large amount of bone-in meat, on the order of 6-10 lb, and will serve eight to ten as a first course. One tail is enough for two or three people if you scale down; note that a quart of stock to three tails is a shallow braise rather than a full covering, so the pieces need turning as they simmer.
- Two hours is the minimumSimmering, not boiling, for two hours will loosen the meat on the smaller tip joints but the thick end sections usually need three to three and a half hours before the meat gives at the bone. Test the largest piece; undercooked oxtail stays tough no matter how well it is fried.
- Chilling is the hingeThe pieces must be thoroughly cold and dry before crumbing, ideally refrigerated several hours or overnight. Warm oxtail sheds its coating in the fat and the gelatin on the surface turns to slick liquid rather than gripping the egg.
- Bouquet of sweet herbsParsley stalks, thyme and a bay leaf tied with string, sometimes with marjoram or savory. Tie it so you can lift it out cleanly before the pieces go in to cool.
- Cracker crumbsFine crumbs from plain soda crackers or water biscuits, rolled with a pin, not seasoned commercial crumbs. Dry breadcrumbs work and brown a little faster.
- Frying mediumLard gives the intended flavour; any fat with a high smoke point will do. Shallow-fry at 350-360F, turning once, until the crust is set and golden -- three or four minutes, since the meat is already cooked and only needs heating through.
- Tartare sauceThe period sauce is a thick homemade mayonnaise with chopped capers, gherkins, shallot and parsley. Spread it on a chilled platter and set the hot oxtail on top just before serving, as the recipe intends the contrast.
- Save the stockThe braising liquid is by then a rich, heavily gelatinous broth. Strain, chill and lift the fat; it makes an excellent base for soup rather than being poured away.
Oxtail was a cheap cut, and dishes like this one exist because a thrifty kitchen had to make something presentable out of it. "A la tartare" in nineteenth-century cookery usually signalled meat that had been cooked, egged and crumbed, fried or grilled, and served with the cold caper-and-gherkin mayonnaise the French called sauce tartare -- the same treatment given to calf's feet, chicken legs and pig's trotters in the same books. The technique solves a real problem: gelatinous cuts that need hours of wet cooking come out of the pot pale and shapeless, and the crumb crust restores both texture and the appearance of a dish worth putting on a platter. Turn-of-the-century American household manuals made use of this pattern, since it let a cook prepare the tedious part a day ahead and finish in minutes.