Wild Game

Sanglier en Daube

The great slow-cooked wild boar stew of Provence — rich, dark, and deeply satisfying.

Personnes

Préparation

30 min

Cuisson

3–4 hours

Difficulty

Medium

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Winter in Provence means hunting season. From September through February, the garrigue falls silent in a particular way — not the silence of emptiness, but the silence of watchfulness. The hunters are out. The dogs are working. The sanglier — the wild boar — is the great quarry of the south, an animal that inspires equal parts respect and appetite.

The boar in Provence are not like the lean, fast animals of northern Europe. They are heavy, powerful creatures that root through the oak forests of the Var, fattening themselves on acorns and truffles and whatever else they can upend with their considerable snouts. The meat is darker than pork, more mineral, and it takes well to long, slow cooking with wine.

This is the simplest and most satisfying way to cook it: a proper daube. The word daube comes from the old Provençal daubière — the tall clay pot in which this dish was traditionally cooked, set directly into the embers of the hearth on a winter evening. The clay absorbed the heat slowly, the wine reduced, the herbs perfumed the whole house, and by midnight there was something extraordinary waiting on the fire. On a cold January day, there is nothing better.

Ingrédients

•1.5 kg wild boar shoulder, cut into large chunks
•1 bottle of red wine (a sturdy Côtes du Rhône)
•200g lardons (smoked bacon pieces)
•3 carrots, roughly chopped
•2 onions, roughly chopped
•4 cloves of garlic
•2 sprigs of thyme
•2 bay leaves
•1 sprig of rosemary
•A handful of black olives
•Salt and pepper
•Olive oil
•2 tbsp tomato paste
•500ml beef stock

🐸 Marcel says:

Brown the meat properly. If it does not smell amazing yet, you are doing it wrong. Patience here means everything later.

Instructions

1
The day before: place the boar pieces in a large bowl with the wine, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and rosemary. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
2
Remove the boar from the marinade. Pat dry with kitchen paper. Reserve the marinade and vegetables.
3
Heat olive oil in a large, heavy casserole over high heat. Brown the boar pieces in batches — do not crowd the pan. This step is essential. Take your time.
4
Remove the browned meat. Add the lardons and cook until crisp.
5
Add the vegetables from the marinade and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
6
Return the meat to the pot. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat everything.
7
Pour in the reserved marinade and the stock. Bring to a gentle boil.
8
Cover and cook on the lowest possible heat for 3 hours, or until the meat falls apart when pressed with a spoon.
9
Add the black olives for the final 30 minutes.
10
Adjust seasoning. Serve with tagliatelle or crusty bread and the rest of the bottle.

Watch it being made

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