Belgian winters are miserable. The warmer Atlantic winds collide with the icy North Sea clouds to form a wet, piercingly cold climate covered under miles of perpetual thick grayness. While it rarely plunges below -10 degree Celsius in Belgium, the long drenching darkness that engulfs the land from November until early April leaves the inhabitants so psychologically scarred, that they either live with a dim hope of seeing the sun hanging on a thread like a candle in the wind, or with extreme rock-bottom negativity about everything so they no longer have to deal with disappointments either in life or in death. A case in point is the state of their politics.

One of the very few ways to deal with Belgian winters is to indulge. This is the reason why this country has hundreds of thousands of beers for such a small surface area. Alcohol feeds misery, the more potent it is, the more numb you get from that wintry vacuum of joy.

Another key invention of indulgence is this dark Flemish Beef Stew made with brown beer. Paired with and contrasted against bright golden fries, the Flemish Beef Stew is a consistent winter staple to help Belgians and travellers here alike get through the yearly psychologically damaging season.

History of the Flemish Beef Stew

The original name of the Flemish Beef Stew is actually ‘Stoofvlees‘ [pronounced ‘St-Oh-f-Vl-ay-S] in Dutch, which translates as ‘stew meat’. Sometimes it is called ‘stoverij‘, which means ‘stewing’ in general.

In French, its name is ‘Carbonade flamande‘ or ‘carbonnade à la flamande‘, which means that it is a typical ‘Flemish’ dish, even though it is made throughout the whole Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, in modern-day southern Netherlands, and also in French Flanders such as Lille and Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

There is no consensus about the origins of stoofvlees. Some say that it dates from the Middle Ages. Others claim it was invented in the city of Antwerpen. The French word ‘carbonnade‘ derives from an older word ‘charbonnade‘ which dates from the 19th century which means to slowly cook something over a pile of smoldering charcoal. But that is in France, and in the Southern French-speaking parts of Belgium. Not in the Northern Dutch-speaking region where this dish originates.

Whether it has medieval origins is debatable. The earliest written records of stoofvlees only appeared in the 1800s. The first written recipe is in a cookbook of 1861, called “De Spaerzame Keukenmeid” (The Thrifty Kitchenmaid)- that would be me – written by culinary author Cauderlier. But there are two aspects of the stoofvlees recipe that certainly predate the 19th century:

First, the use of beer in cooking in the Low Countries has always been done since the Dark Ages, because of the lousy quality of well water due to the high rainfall. Beer, especially dark beer, was even drunk instead of water as it is free of contaminants.

Second, the use of brown and rye bread smeared with mustard as a thickener was a well-known household trick since before the 18th century to get rid of stale bread and to not waste precious flour to make a roux.

Notes about this recipe

This recipe is written by the renowned Belgian TV chef Jeroen Meus, and has been touted as the best recipe for stoofvlees ever. I have translated it into English and added a few tips here below for you.

Jeroen Meus advises you that you should not crowd the pan when panfrying, otherwise the meat will not brown properly and it would be steamed instead.

Stoofvlees was definitely a common dish by the common folks, so please do not use tenderloins or your best rib-eye. Use tough shoulder meat cut roughly into 5cm cubes. If the meat is sinewy, prolong your stewing time.

I use both cast iron pan and pot because you need to retain the burnt bits for glazing with a cast iron pan and the heat for stewing in a cast iron pot. If not, use your ordinary pots and pans, I was just stating what works best traditionally.

You should only use dark brown Belgian beer for the most authentic flavour. I use Sint Bernardus abt 12, as recommended by Jeroen. You can also use Westmalle dubbel, or any brown Belgian trappiest beer you will not go wrong there.

The recipe calls for a Belgian fruit syrup made in the city of Liège called ‘Sirop de Liège’, or ‘Luikse siroop‘ in Dutch. It is actually an apple and pear jelly, which is very typically northern European so it can go by any other brand. Any apple jam or slightly sourish syrup can replace that.

The bouquet garni calls for the herbs to be tied together but I use a handy Japanese paper bag instead. Try that!

Jeroen Meus’ recipe is for 1 kg of meat. For every 500g of meat, you use 3/4 bottle of 330ml beer, 1 onion, 1 small brown bread, 1 tablespoon of syrup. So you need to increase or decrease accordingly.

Stoofvlees is normally served with Belgian fries, potato croquette or mashed potatoes. Jeroen recommends pairing with a simple Belgian endives salad, but you can certainly use any rucola or other salad greens to help lighten the dish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg beef, cut in 5cm cubes
  • 2 big white onions
  • 1.5 (33cl) bottles of Belgian brown beer
  • 1-4 cloves
  • 1 bouquet garni of 2 branches of fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2 branches of parsley
  • 1 slice of brown bread
  • 2 tbs apple and pear jelly syrup (Sirop de Liège)
  • Very hot mustard (I use French moutarde de Dijon)
  • Butter
  • Salt and pepper

Serving: 2 persons

Instructions:

  1. Roughly chop up your onions and very slowly stir fry them in butter in your pot on low heat.
  2. Heat up your pan with butter on medium heat and brown your meat on both sides. First thoroughly brown one side beside flipping over to the other side. Do NOT stack the meat as this will steam them instead of frying them. Once a piece of meat is brown on all sides, place it in the pot with the onions.
  3. Once all the meat is brown and placed in the pot, sear the pan with brown beer. Make sure all the meat stains are absorbed into the beer by scrubbing it with a ladle. Once the beer is boiling, pour it into the pot of meat and onions. Put away the pan.
  4. Turn up the heat to medium high for the pot. Add your bouquet garni, cloves and apple-pear syrup.
  5. Smear a big (or two small) slice of brown bread with two tablespoons of hot mustard. Place it (mustard-side) facing down onto the stewing meat. Bring the stew to boil and mix everything well with ladle.
  6. Bring the heat down to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer over three hours. Uncover every now and then to give everything a good stir to make sure nothing is burning.
  7. 15-20 minutes before the meat is done, prepare your fries and salad.
  8. By the end of three hours, if the meat is still a bit tough due to the sinews, stew a bit longer. If the sauce is not thick enough, stew a bit longer without the cover.
  9. Once it is done, season with salt and pepper.
  10. Serve the stoofvlees with Belgian fries (and some real mayonnaise for dipping) and a side salad.