Pot au feu

The pot au feu has been simmering beside French fires and atop stoves for centuries. Essentially a beef and vegetable stew, traditionally served in two stages: first as soup, a dark and flavoursome consommé; and then as a hearty dish of boiled beef with poached vegetables accompanied sometimes by a marrow bone with croûtons. French mustard, gros sel (cooking or coarse sea salt) and cornichons are the traditional condiments.

Threatened with extinction by the 21st-centur