Posta Negra Cartagenera

Ingredients

• 1.3 kg beef eye of round in one piece
• 100 g panela, grated, or dark muscovado sugar
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 250 ml dark cola
• 500 ml beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Before you cook

• Pat the beef completely dry with kitchen paper.
• Rub the salt, pepper and cumin all over the meat and press them in.
• Tie the joint at three centimetre intervals with kitchen string so it holds its shape.
• Leave the tied beef on a plate at room temperature for thirty minutes.
• Slice the onion and pepper, crush the garlic and chop the spring onions and tomatoes.
• Grate the panela if it is in a solid block.

Steps

1. Put the grated panela and the oil into a heavy casserole over medium heat.
2. Let the sugar melt and bubble for about three minutes, swirling the pan, until it turns dark amber and smells faintly bitter.
3. Lower the beef into the hot caramel and turn it every two minutes with tongs.
4. Keep turning for ten minutes, until every surface is coated and blackened.
5. Lift the beef out onto a plate.
6. Add the onion, garlic, spring onions and red pepper to the dark pan and cook for eight minutes, scraping the base as they release their moisture.
7. Stir in the tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes and cook for five minutes until pulpy.
8. Return the beef to the pan and pour in the cola, the beef stock, the Worcestershire sauce and the mustard.
9. Drop in the bay leaves and bring the liquid to a bare simmer.
10. Cover the pan and cook on the lowest heat for two hours, turning the beef every thirty minutes so it colours evenly.
11. Test the beef with a skewer, and if it still feels tight give it another thirty minutes.
12. Lift the beef onto a board and let it rest for fifteen minutes.
13. Fish out the bay leaves, then blend the sauce in the pan with a stick blender until glossy and smooth.
14. Simmer the sauce uncovered for ten minutes until it thickly coats a spoon.
15. Cut the string off the beef and slice it across the grain about one centimetre thick.
16. Return the slices to the sauce for two minutes to warm through, then serve with white rice and fried plantain.