Alcatra à Moda da Terceira

Ingredients

• 1.6 kg beef rump or shin, in large pieces
• 150 g smoked streaky bacon, thickly sliced
• 3 large onions
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp allspice berries (pimenta da Jamaica)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp pork lard
• 500 ml dry white wine
• 200 ml water
• 1 tbsp coarse salt
• Massa sovada or crusty bread, to serve

Before you cook

• Cut the beef into large pieces about 8 cm across, leaving any bones in.
• Rub the beef all over with the coarse salt.
• Slice the onions into half-moons and peel all the garlic cloves.
• Grease the inside of a deep unglazed clay pot or heavy casserole with the lard.
• Scatter a third of the onions and garlic across the base of the pot.

Steps

1. Lay half the beef over the onions in the pot.
2. Tuck half the bacon, two bay leaves, half the cloves, half the allspice and half the peppercorns in among the meat.
3. Add another third of the onions and garlic.
4. Pack in the rest of the beef, bacon, bay leaves and spices.
5. Cover everything with the last of the onions and garlic.
6. Pour in the white wine and the water; the liquid should come about three quarters of the way up the meat.
7. Cover the pot with its lid, or seal it tightly with a double layer of foil.
8. Leave the sealed pot to stand at room temperature for one hour, so the wine works into the meat.
9. Heat the oven to 150C.
10. Bake the sealed pot for three hours without opening it once.
11. Take the lid off and turn each piece of beef over in the sauce.
12. Return the pot to the oven uncovered for another forty-five minutes.
13. Check that the exposed meat has browned and the sauce has reduced to a dark, glossy gravy.
14. Taste the sauce and add salt only if it needs it.
15. Rest the pot out of the oven for fifteen minutes.
16. Serve straight from the clay pot with thick slices of massa sovada or bread for soaking up the gravy.