Jewish Brisket Braising

Jewish braised brisket — the same cut of beef as Texas smoked brisket (AM3-02), prepared by a completely different technique for a completely different cultural purpose — is the holiday centrepiece of the Ashkenazi Jewish table: Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Shabbat dinners. Where Texas brisket is smoked dry for 12-18 hours and served with salt, pepper, and nothing else, Jewish brisket is braised in liquid (onions, stock, tomato, sometimes sweet elements like prunes or dried apricots) in a covered pot at 150°C for 3-4 hours until the tough collagen converts to gelatin and the meat is tender enough to slice against the grain and hold together while yielding to a fork. Same cut. Same patience. Same collagen-to-gelatin conversion. Different tradition, different technique, different table.

A whole first-cut brisket (the flat — leaner than the navel used for pastrami), seared hard on both sides, then braised in a covered Dutch oven or roasting pan with sliced onions (a great quantity — the onions dissolve into the braising liquid and become the sauce), stock or wine, tomato (paste or crushed), garlic, and sometimes carrots. The braising liquid should come one-third to halfway up the meat. The covered pot goes into a 150°C oven for 3-4 hours. The finished brisket should be deeply browned on the exterior, fork-tender throughout, and the braising liquid should have reduced into a thick, onion-rich gravy.

Sliced on a platter with the onion gravy poured over. Alongside: roasted root vegetables, potato kugel (a baked potato pudding), challah bread, and a green vegetable. At Passover: with matzo instead of challah, and horseradish on the side. Red wine — a bold, fruit-forward red that can stand up to the braised beef.