Tafelspitz

Tafelspitz is the German word for a certain cut of beef, from a young ox. It's located at the hip of the ox. It's also know as Schwanzstück (technically Tafelspitz is only a small part of the Schwanzstück) or tri-tip (in the United States), although when I read the tri-tip Wikipedia entry this seems a different part of beef: Bottom Sirloin. It's all very confusing.

Tafelspitz cut:


Tafelspitz is also the word of a typical Austrian dish. Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, was a great lover of Tafelspitz.

I went to my local butcher not knowing the Dutch name for Tafelspitz. I asked for a cut of the hip of an ox, and told him I wanted to simmer the meat in stock. There was some confusion on part of the butcher; he didn't seem to know what I wanted. Then he told me to get entrecôte. I don't buy meat often enough to know which cut an entrecôte is, so I bought it believing my butcher knew best and went home. Then I discovered entrecôte is a cut from the rib, not the hip or tail.

It still don't know the Dutch word for Tafelspitz. Take a pick! It seems the Dutch never boil beef but always fry it.

Wrong meat?


I went ahead and simmered my expensive piece of entrecôte in 2 liters of water, onion, leek, salt, black pepper, bay leaf and cloves.



First boil the water, turn down the heat, then add the meat. Simmer for 90 minutes on low heat. The water shouldn't boil.



Serve with potatoes, boiled vegetables and Töginger Meerrettichsauce.