Beef bourguignon or bœuf bourguignon (uk; bœf buʁɡiɲɔ̃), also called beef Burgundy, and Boeuf à la Bourguignonne, is a well known traditional French recipe

French cuisine

French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...

.

The dish originates from the Burgundy region (in French, Bourgogne) which is in the east of present-day France, as do many of the more well-known French dishes such as coq au vin

Coq au vin

Coq au vin is a French braise of chicken cooked with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.While the wine is typically Burgundy, many regions of France have variants of coq au vin using the local wine, such as coq au vin jaune , coq au Riesling , coq au pourpre , coq au Champagne, and so...

, escargot, persillé ham, oeufs meurette, gougères, pain d'epices, epoisses, etc.

It is a stew prepared with beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

 braised in red wine, traditionally red Burgundy

Burgundy wine

Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...

, and beef broth, generally flavoured with garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s and a bouquet garni

Bouquet garni

The bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption....

, with pearl onion

Pearl onion

The "true" pearl onion is a close relative of leek , and may be distinguished from bulb onions by having only a single storage leaf, similar to cloves of garlic...

s and mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s added towards the end of cooking.

(Traditionally, the meat was larded with lardon

Lardon

Lardon is a small strip or cube of pork fat used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory foods and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threading them with a needle into meats that are to be braised or roasted...

s, but modern beef is sufficiently tender and well marbled that this very time-consuming technique is rarely used any more. However, bacon cut into small cubes is still used to produce the initial cooking fat and added to the dish at the end.)

History

Beef bourguignon is one of many examples of peasant

Peasant

A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

 dishes being slowly refined into haute cuisine

Haute cuisine

Haute cuisine or grande cuisine was characterised by French cuisine in elaborate preparations and presentations served in small and numerous courses that were produced by large and hierarchical staffs at the grand restaurants and hotels of Europe.The 17th century chef and writer La Varenne...

. Most likely, the particular method of slowly simmering the beef in wine originated as a means of tenderizing cuts of meat that would have been too tough to cook any other way.

Over time, the dish became a standard of French cuisine. The recipe most people still follow to make an authentic beef bourguignon was first described by Auguste Escoffier

Auguste Escoffier

Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He is a legendary figure among chefs and gourmands, and was one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine...

. That recipe, however, has undergone subtle changes, owing to changes in cooking equipment and available food supplies. Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both of France, and Julia Child of the United States...

describes the dish, Sauté de Boeuf à la Bourguignonne, as "certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man."

Alternate spellings

• bœuf à la bourguignonne
• bœuf bourguignon (Le Cordon Bleu Professional Cooking, Wayne Gisslen, Fifth Edition, 2003)
• beef bourguignonne (spelling found for example in Food Lover's Companion
  Food Lover's Companion
  The New Food Lover’s Companion—currently in its Fourth Edition—is a seminal work in the culinary field. The book defines over 6,700 culinary terms in its 830 pages, along with numerous conversion tables...
  
  , Sharon Tyler Herbst, Third Edition, 2001)

See also

• Hayashi rice
  Hayashi rice
  Hashed beef rice or Hayashi rice is a dish popular in Japan as a Western-style dish. It usually contains beef, onions, and button mushrooms, in a thick demi-glace sauce which often contains red wine and tomato sauce. This sauce is served atop or alongside steamed rice. The sauce is sometimes...
  
  
• Beef Stroganoff
  Beef Stroganoff
  Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov is a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with smetana or sour cream...
  
  
• Coq au vin
  Coq au vin
  Coq au vin is a French braise of chicken cooked with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.While the wine is typically Burgundy, many regions of France have variants of coq au vin using the local wine, such as coq au vin jaune , coq au Riesling , coq au pourpre , coq au Champagne, and so...
  
  
• Carbonade flamande
• Beef Shank
  Beef shank
  The beef shank is the shank portion of a steer or heifer. In Britain the corresponding cuts of beef are the shin , and the leg ....
  
  

External links

• Retro Food Recipes: Beef bourguignon, 1960s version