French-Style Pot Roast

1. How to braise beef, veal and lamb
2. How to use fatback to make meat moist
3. How to work with and appreciate natural meat jellies
4. How to with leftovers
5. How to cook lamb and veal shanks

For those of us who think of French food as dominated by rich, thick sauces, it comes as a revelation that a cornerstone of French cooking is made up of pot roast-like dishes—slow-cooked pieces of meat with wine, herbs, and aromatic vegetables whose disparate flavors merge miraculously into something robust yet subtle, deeply satisfying yet elegant. Nowadays, the “best,” most tender cuts of meat are fashionable—we want a quickly grilled steak or a little roast we can cook up in an hour, not a dish that simmers for hours on end. This wasn’t always the case. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the French were considered experts at braising (slow cooking with a small amount of liquid), while it was the English who were the esteemed masters of the roast. Slow-cooked dishes are still to be found in French country homes, where the traditions of good cooking remain more respected than in the cities. More recently, a craze for regional cooking has long-cooked dishes like pot-au-feu and boeuf à la mode showing up in chic restaurants.