Medieval Beef Soup

Ingredients

• beef roast
• 3–4 large turnips with greens attached
• 2 cup chicken stock
• 1/10 g saffron
• 1/4 stick butter
• pepper
• water

Method

Cut the beef roast into 2–3 cm cubes. Season generously with pepper. Heat butter in a large heavy pan over a high flame until foaming, then browning|brown the beef in batches — do not crowd the pan. You want a deep mahogany crust on each piece, which takes 3–4 minutes per side. This [[maillard-reaction develops the savoury backbone of the soup. Once browned, transfer to a slow cooker with all the rendered fat and meat juices.

Trim the greens from the turnips and reserve them separately. Peel the turnips, cut them into 2 cm cubes, and add them to the slow cooker along with the chicken stock. Top up with water if the liquid sits below the vegetables by roughly a finger's width — you're aiming for a proper soup, not a braise. Bloom the saffron in 100 ml of warm water for 5 minutes to release its colour and aromatic-vegetables|floral notes, then stir this infusion into the pot along with another grinding of pepper.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. The beef should be fully tender and the turnips beginning to collapse at the edges; if they're still firm, give it another 20 minutes. Roughly 15 minutes before serving, chop the turnip greens into 2 cm strips — remove the tough central stem first — and scatter them into the pot. They'll wilt almost immediately and add a bitter counterpoint to the saffron's warmth. Cook uncovered for the final 15 minutes so any excess liquid reduces slightly and the greens soften fully.

Taste and adjust seasoning with additional pepper or a pinch of salt if needed. This is a medieval-cuisine|medieval interpretation of beef and root-vegetable soup, so resist the urge to add tomatoes or modern aromatics like garlic and celery — the simplicity is intentional. Serve in wide bowls with a spoon; the broth should be rich enough to coat the back of it lightly, a sign that the gelatin from the beef has properly extracted.