French · Provence · main

Daube Avignonnaise (Lamb Daube in White Wine)

Daube Avignonnaise (Lamb Daube in White Wine) reads umami 8.7, richness 7.9 and salinity 6.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Provence main, about 16 hr 4 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 9.8 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.2 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.9 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 8.2 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.2 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 8.7 · Richness 7.9 · Salinity 6.6 · Allium 3.5 · Warm Spice 3.4 · Sweetness 3.4 · Sourness 3.2 · Funk & Ferment 3.1 · Earthy 2.7 · Fruity 2.5 · Floral 2.3 · Citrus 2.0 · Herbaceous 1.9 · Bitterness 1.8 · Marine & Briny 1.3 · Heat 1.2 · Nutty 0.8

What's in it (18)

• lamb shoulder roast — 1600 g
• dry white wine — 750 g
• salt pork — 150 g
• olive oil — 41 g
• onions — 350 g
• carrots — 250 g
• garlic — 60 g
• wide strips dried orange peel — 6 g
• thyme — 2 g
• bay leaf — 2 g
• parsley — 20 g
• cloves — 200 g
• black peppercorns — 800 g
• marc de provence — 60 g
• tomatoes — 200 g
• nicoise olives — 100 g
• salt — 15 g
• egg noodles — 250 g

Time & effort: about 16 hr 4 min (4 hr 4 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 206.6 kcal, 10.7 g protein, 10.3 g fat, 19.1 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (10 steps)

1. The day before, put the lamb in a deep earthenware bowl with the onions, carrots, garlic, orange peel, bouquet garni, cloves and peppercorns. Pour over the white wine and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, turn everything through with your hands, cover, and leave in the cold for 12 hours, turning once. Avignon marinates lamb in white wine; the beef daubes of the Var use red. Both are daubes and neither is a mistake.
2. Next day lift the meat out and dry every piece hard on a cloth. Wet meat will not brown, and the colour you build now is most of the finished flavour. Strain the marinade, keeping the liquid and the drained vegetables separately.
3. Render the lardons in the remaining oil in a heavy casserole over medium heat for 6 minutes, until the fat runs and they are pale gold, then lift them out. Raise the heat to medium-high and brown the lamb in three or four batches, 4 to 5 minutes a batch, turning each piece only once it releases itself from the pan. Crowd the pan and the meat will steam grey instead.
4. Lower the heat to medium and sweat the drained marinade vegetables in the same fat for 10 minutes, until the onion is limp and translucent but has taken no colour.
5. Pour in the marc and let it bubble away to almost nothing, scraping the brown film off the base with a wooden spoon. That film is where all the browning went and none of it should stay stuck to the pan.
6. Return the meat and lardons, add the tomatoes, the strained marinade and the salt. The liquid should come just level with the meat and no higher. Bring it to the barest tremble — one bubble breaking every second or two, never a rolling boil, which toughens lamb and clouds the sauce.
7. Cover with a tight lid and cook in a 140°C (285°F) oven for 3 hours, until a chunk gives completely when pressed with the back of a spoon. Look once an hour to check it is still only trembling; if it has come to a boil, drop the oven 10 degrees.
8. Tip the pot gently to one side and skim off the clear fat that gathers at the edge. Lift the meat out, then boil the sauce down over medium-high heat for 10 to 15 minutes until it is nappe — thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a clean line when you draw a finger through it. Stir in the olives, return the meat and let the pot stand 10 minutes off the heat.
9. Boil the noodles in well-salted water, drain, and serve them under the daube with a ladle of sauce over. In Provence the pasta is not a garnish, it is half the dish.
10. Substitutions: Cassis can stand in for the dry white wine; unsmoked pancetta can stand in for the salt pork; brandy can stand in for the marc de Provence; macaroni can stand in for the wide egg noodles.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Greek-Style Braised Short Ribs with Cinnamon and Tomato — Greek
• Ground Beef and Feta Stuffed Peppers — Middle Eastern
• Sausage and Fennel Ragu with Pappardelle — Italian
• Sunday Sauce with Braised Meatballs — Italian-American
• Classic Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots — American

Keep reading: what umami, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.