A Trip to Provence, France 🇫🇷
Easy, Perfect Lamb Stew
Greetings Friends,
There has been a lot of newcomers in the past week or so… welcome!
Reminder for everyone. Check out the pinned post on the Octopod Substack page for an index of all recipes and topics. ⬇️
Today’s recipe is in response to a request from a subscriber, asking for a tender lamb recipe.
I’ve got just the thing for you all today. 🙌
This is going to shock you that something so “simple” can be deeply flavorful, comforting and bring an exciting range of flavors that keeps each bite new and exciting.
For this we need to take a trip to one of my favorite food regions in France…
Provence
Provence Lamb Stew 🇫🇷
While Lyon and Paris are well known as culinary mecca’s, the region in the South of France (Provence) has a rich and dynamic food history. Lavender fields dot the countryside and there’s even a “Herbes de Provence” blend that includes, you guessed it, lavender.
(Lavender has a very perfumed and aggressive flavor. Best used in very small doses; more on that at a later date).
When I first got heavy into cooking, French food was where i fell in love first. The traditions, nose-to-tail eating, quality of ingredients all makeup the backbone of a food culture that masterfully layers flavors.
In the years since I’ve come to appreciate food cultures all over the globe and continue to learn more, but France is where I started… and so will always hold a special place in my heart.
As you saw in the Ratatouille post, the French are masterful at taking ordinary/plain ingredients and making something that is much greater than the sum of its’ parts.
(I can still taste that ratatouille just thinking of it now. Had not made in years… will be making more soon 🤤)
This lamb stew works off the same principal.
In France this type of stew is referred to as a daube. While you can do this recipe with beef, lamb really works best here because of all the flavors we will be combining.
Back in the day, cooks would leave these stews in the oven for hours at a time which created a deep and complex result.
I’m going to show you a major short cut in how this lamb stew can cook in just 30 mins… making it easy to prepare any day of the week.
Where a lot of people think of French food as heavy and rich, this stew is an explosion of herbal, citrus, briny and sweet vegetable flavors… all marrying with tender and succulent lamb.
Soulful, comforting and explosive flavors…
Let’s cook 🐙 👨🍳
