, leek, carrot, celery, turnip and onion The central ingredient in
pot-au-feu is meat. Many recipes specify more than one cut of beef to give both the broth and the cooked meat the required flavour and consistency.
Elizabeth David writes that
shin, because of its gelatinous properties, is good for the
bouillon but produces a mediocre
bouilli, whereas a cut such as
silverside cooks well for the
bouilli. For a large
pot-au-feu, it is practicable to use both those cuts or a mixture of others.
Paul Bocuse calls for six different cuts:
blade,
brisket,
entrecôte,
oxtail,
rib, and shin. Some recipes add
ox liver to improve the clarity of the broth. The inclusion of cabbage divides opinion; David comments that it is frequently encountered in France, but in her view, it "utterly wrecks" a
pot-au-feu;
Madame Saint-Ange takes a similar view. Blanc,
Édouard de Pomiane, and
Auguste Escoffier include it; Bocuse,
Alain Ducasse, and
Joël Robuchon omit it, •
pot-au-feu aux
pruneaux – the meats are beef and lightly-salted pork knuckle, cooked with the usual vegetables but adding
prunes soaked in
Armagnac. •
pot-au-feu madrilène – the meats are chicken, beef, veal, ham, bacon,
chorizo sausage and
boudin noir. ==Serving==