Old Clothes – Ropa Vieja

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 kg beef rib(s)
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp oil (annato oil or regular vegetable oil)
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 clove(s) garlic, chopped
• 4 bell peppers
• 1 chili pepper(s), finely diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 6 tomatoes, peeled
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 5 carnations
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 lime(s)
• Salt and pepper, black

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 40 minutes

Cuban national dish – widespread throughout Latin America

The unusual name of the dish – Old Clothes – goes back to a beautiful legend. Once, when a poor man had nothing to eat, he simply put a few old clothes into the pot and prayed fervently. By the next day, the rags had transformed into this delicious dish. Visually, however, one is indeed reminded of old scraps of fabric. In fact, the dish has been traditionally enjoyed by Sephardic Jews in Spain for more than five hundred years. Since cooking on the Sabbath was forbidden, they placed the prepared pot on a moderately hot stove the evening before and had a warm meal ready on the holiday. With the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the recipe also reached the New World and became a Cuban national dish. Place the beef in plenty of salted water with two quartered onions and two bay leaves and simmer over low heat until the meat easily falls away from the bones or no longer offers any resistance when pierced with a larding needle. This takes about one and a half to two hours. Remove the meat, let it cool, and tear it into thin strips about five centimeters long. Fry the diced onions in the annatto oil until translucent. The annatto is particularly responsible for the beautiful color and can be omitted if necessary. Deseed and dice the bell peppers. Add them to the pot along with the garlic, carrots, and chili and fry for a few minutes. The vegetables should not brown. Then crush the tomatoes and add them with the cinnamon and cloves. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt, pepper, and lime juice. Now stir in the capers and the meat pieces and let them come to room temperature for a few minutes. The best accompaniment is “Moors and Christians/Moros y Christianos,” also known as black beans with rice.