On low heat

We entered through the gate that led to the corral and hurried toward the back where the dairy was. The people of the house were drinking coffee in the kitchen. They sensed us approaching without flinching because they knew our steps well. They knew we would first go see the cows, who were already looking out of the feeders. Their huge, black eyes looked at us full of good nature and invited us to approach them. We stroked their foreheads, and they responded by licking our hand with their wet, overflowing tongues. Sometimes we waited for milking time to spend more time with them. We had to leave them alone and go outside where a glass of delicious milk was waiting for us. They watched us from outside, our whitish mustaches betraying gratitude for their offering.

Beef and veal have been present in the history of the kitchen since its beginning. We find written tablets describing meat stews, probably ox, with beer, onions, and fat. In Egypt, this meat was used in rituals and religious meals. The Greeks and Romans also considered the ox an animal of symbolic value, sacrificing it in religious ceremonies. In Rome, they used its meat in highly seasoned dishes, such as those featured in Apici's De re coquinaria, where the veal is cooked fried and also boiled. In other recipes, it is accompanied with dates and pine nuts, or the sauce is thickened with starch before adding it to the meat.

Different Functions

In the Middle Ages, both in the Islamic and Christian worlds, beef continued to be present, but with different functions. Arabic cookbooks describe veal or beef stews with spices, almonds, and vinegar, combinations that would later influence later cuisine. In the Christian world, cows were primarily used for raising calves and producing milk for cheese. For cooking, however, sheep, goats, poultry, and pigs were consumed, and, to a lesser extent, cows or oxen. Their meat was tough and difficult to digest. It was possibly cooked to use up older specimens for long cooking times. Calf, on the other hand, was highly regarded because it was tender and unusual. It was reserved for special occasions for the upper classes and is hardly ever mentioned in cookbooks.

In the 16th century, Robert de Nola's Libro del Coch describes recipes such as veal doubling, where the meat is first roasted on the spit and then cut into small pieces that are then cooked with sautéed onions, broth, wine, and spices. When the meat is cooked, almond milk is poured over it and it is cooked until thickened.

This type of preparation bears strong similarities to the ox or cow stews of our cuisine, such as the ox and onion dish included by Friar Francesc Roger in The Art of Cooking (Menorca, 18th century); and the stew published in Mode of Cooking in the Mallorcan Way, by Friar Jaume Martí Oliver, a contemporary of the former. These are simple dishes that require patience, low heat, and a long cooking time.

In the 19th century, recipes that featured beef were few and far between. They almost always refer to stews or stews where the meat is sliced or cut into small pieces and cooked with onion, garlic, and sometimes fruit such as pears, raisins, cherries, or even legumes. Occasionally, a large piece is cooked, then stuffed with a chop and cooked for a long time.

In the 20th century, cow's milk production increased to meet population demand, and consequently, meat consumption increased. Cookbooks not only describe "aguidos" (steak stews), but we also see different ways of preparing steaks and other parts not previously mentioned. One of these recipes is oxtail in Saint-Lambert's Cocina popular de Mallorca (Sóller, 1931), which we recreate for this week's recipe.