Tail cordovan and aubergines with honey

How to prepare tail to Cordovan . Sometimes there are meat recipes  that we are reluctant to prepare at home, not because we don’t like them but because of the complicated, laborious or slow process.

The tail to the Cordovan one can, perfectly, be one of those cases when treating of a meat stew that, so that it is in its optimal point, needs well about 4 or 5 hours of cooking. Once again, thanks to modern industry, we will be able to prepare this delicacy at home, of course with our express pot. Nothing will prevent us from preparing this wonderful tail a Cordovan with honey aubergines at home . What was originally born as a need, that of the humble people who, after the bullfights, took advantage of what the nobility discarded, shell, tail and ears, is today a delicacy worthy of the best of the tables.

The oxtail stew is an ancient recipe, back in the 1st century AD the Roman gourmet Marcus Gavius ​​Apicius, recorded in his De re cojilla , the recipe for this dish. Even so, it was not until the middle of the 19th century when this dish became important and began to form part of the repertoire of Corbodo families, surely due to the rise of the bullfighting world. Now we can find this ingredient in many recipes, from croquettes, in meatball format or accompanying some beans from the farm .

Although the recipe that I bring you today is not of bull, but of old cow, the flavor and texture are perfect. If we used a more tender meat such as veal, the cooking time would be reduced quite a bit, almost the same as in the meat stew . It is a stew in the purest traditional style, with its vegetable base and its aromatization with wine. The only license I have taken is to cook this tail in an express pot, so we don’t spend the day on the stove. In any case it is a delicacy of meat tender and full of flavor, a whole recipe for yummy meat accompanied by a few aubergines with honey that give it a different point.

Preparation of the tail to the Cordovan

1. We ask our butcher to cut our tails. At home, we remove the external fat as much as possible.
2. Heat a splash of olive oil in the express pot. Add the onions, garlic cloves and carrots cut into small cubes. Fry the vegetables for about 15 minutes, until they are well poached.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, the bay leaf and the peppercorns. Let the vegetables cook for about 15 minutes before adding the chopped and clean meat.
4. Add the wine and leave a few minutes for the alcohol to evaporate before adding the meat stock. We cover the express pot and, from the moment the valve starts working, we count about 40 minutes.
5. After this time we open the pot to check the meat point. It must be able to come off the bone without the need for a knife, it must be very tender.
6. We can remove the meat and pass the sauce through the Chinese or mash. Also serve it simply as is, with the pieces of vegetables visible, to the taste of the consumer.

Preparation of aubergines with honey and final presentation

1. As garnish we will put some aubergines. We wash the eggplant and cut it into thick slices, 1 cm. thick.
2. We place the slices on a plate, one on top of the other, as we salt them abundantly.
3. We let the aubergines rest for 30 minutes. In this time they will have released part of their water, and with it, that acidic point that characterizes them.
4. We dry the eggplant slices with a kitchen paper. In a very hot frying pan, with a splash of olive oil, fry the eggplants until they are soft.
5. Eggplants can suck a lot of oil, so as we fry them in batches, we will have to add something else.
6. We serve the tail to the Cordovan accompanied by the fried aubergines and watered with a thread of cane honey. A different and perfect combination for a classic dish worthy of the best table, a delicious treat.

Be sure to enjoy all the meat stews you have on the blog. You can see all the photos of the step by step of this stewed tail  in this album.