Stew Soup of Salt Meat

Ingredients

• 2 lb salt beef or pork
• 4 carrots
• 4 parsnips
• 4 turnips
• 4 potatoes
• 1 cabbage
• 2 oz oatmeal or ground rice
• salt
• pepper
• 2 quarts water

Method

Soak the salt meat in cold water for at least two hours — longer if you have the time — to draw out excess salt and prevent the broth from becoming unpalatably harsh. This is non-negotiable with cured cuts. Drain, then cut into rough 3–4 cm chunks; leave some surface area uncut rather than dicing fine, as the meat will break apart during the long braising anyway.

Cover the meat with 2 litres of cold water and bring slowly to a simmer. Skim the grey scum that rises in the first five minutes — this is denatured protein and myoglobin that clouds the broth. Once clear, maintain a gentle simmering for two hours. The meat should yield to a fork but still hold its shape. The slow heat renders the collagen in the meat into gelatin, which will give the finished broth body.

Trim the vegetables and cut them large — roughly 2 cm chunks for root vegetables, larger for cabbage. At the two-hour mark, add the carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes to the pot. They'll need forty minutes. Ten minutes before the end, stir in the oatmeal mixed with a little cold broth to make a paste, working out the lumps against the side of the pot. This thickens via starch gelatinisation without clouding the liquid. If you're using ground rice instead, add it at the same time; don't include it with the vegetables or it will turn to paste before the roots are tender. Add the cabbage in the final three minutes — it should remain slightly textured, not collapse into sludge.

Taste and season. The broth already contains salt from the meat; add pepper generously. The finished soup should be wholesome and savoury, the broth glossy from gelatin and emulsified fat, vegetables still distinct but fully tender. Ladle into deep bowls with a slice of bread, if you like. This is working food, not refined — and it deserves a plain spoon and a hot plate.