History

The daube is a Languedoc and Gascon stew tradition with roots in the Provencal daube avignonnaise. The Gers and Tarn versions use Madiran red wine (the local Tannat-based AOC) and add wild cepes from the Pyrenean foothills. The dish is the canonical Sunday-lunch braise across the southwest, eaten with potato gratin sarladaise or fresh tagliatelle.

Make it at home

Yield Serves 6Hands-on 45 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg beef cheek or chuck, cubed
  • 750ml Madiran red wine
  • 200g pancetta or lardons
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 4 carrots, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 200g dried cepes, rehydrated
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 50g flour
  • Sea salt, black pepper
  • Olive oil

Method

  1. Marinate the beef in the Madiran wine with bouquet garni overnight, refrigerated.
  2. Strain the beef from the marinade (keep the wine). Pat dry, dust with flour.
  3. Brown the lardons in a Dutch oven, set aside. Brown the beef in batches in the lardons fat.
  4. Soften onions, carrots and garlic in the pan, 8 minutes.
  5. Return the beef and lardons. Add the reserved marinade, the rehydrated cepes (and their soaking liquid, strained) and the bouquet garni.
  6. Cover and braise at 140C for 3 hours, until the beef collapses with a fork.
  7. Lift the meat. Reduce the sauce on the stove until syrupy, return the meat. Serve with potato gratin.

Tip from the editors. Beef cheek is the canonical cut: collagen-rich, ideal for long braising. Madiran has the structure to stand up to 3 hours; do not substitute with light wine.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat daube de boeuf gasconne

Daube de boeuf gasconne in Toulouse

Chez Navarre ★ 4.5

saint-etienne

Why locals love it: Saint-Etienne table d'hotes with shared long tables, adopted as a canteen by locals and missed by visitors who stick to Capitole.

Tip: Eat at the long shared tables; bookings essential, the locals adopt it as a canteen.

49 Grande Rue Nazareth, 31000 Toulouse

Le Genty Magre ★ 4.5

gascon€€€carmes

Le Genty Magre between Esquirol and Capitole is chef Romain Brard's southwestern dining room, winner of the 2023 Toulouse Cassoulet Championship.

Signature: Cassoulet de Toulouse, Bourgeois southwestern menu, Foie gras

Tip: The cassoulet sells in glass jars to take home; book the small inner room for the calmer service.

3 Rue Genty Magre, 31000 Toulouse

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