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Tafelspitz mit Apfelkren (Simmered Beef Rump Cap with Apple Horseradish)
Tafelspitz mit Apfelkren (Simmered Beef Rump Cap with Apple Horseradish) reads umami 5.7, richness 5.1 and sweetness 4.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Austrian main, about 3 hr 59 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 6.1 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 5.6 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 3.9 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 1.7 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 5.1 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 4.5 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Umami 5.7 · Richness 5.1 · Sweetness 4.6 · Allium 3.9 · Sourness 3.8 · Salinity 3.7 · Fruity 3.6 · Heat 2.4 · Herbaceous 2.3 · Warm Spice 2.0 · Floral 1.5 · Earthy 1.5 · Bitterness 1.2
What's in it (16)
- rump of beef — 1500 g
- beef marrow bones — 1000 g
- cold water — 3000 g
- onions — 220 g
- carrots — 120 g
- parsley root — 100 g
- celeriac — 200 g
- leek — 100 g
- black peppercorns — 1000 g
- bay leaf — 1 g
- salt — 15 g
- horseradish — 200 g
- cooking apple — 360 g
- white wine vinegar — 30 g
- caster sugar — 4 g
- chives — 15 g
Time & effort: about 3 hr 59 min (3 hr 44 min active) · effort: involved
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 81.1 kcal, 7.3 g protein, 2.4 g fat, 10.6 g carbs
Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.
How it's cooked (9 steps)
- Put the bones in the cold water, bring slowly to a boil and skim the grey foam off relentlessly for the first 15 minutes. A clear broth is not optional here; the broth is served as the first course from the same pot.
- Lay the onion halves cut side down in a dry pan and burn them almost black over high heat, 4 minutes. This is where the amber colour of a Viennese beef broth comes from, and there is no substitute for it.
- Add the burnt onions, peppercorns, bay and salt to the pot, then lower in the beef. The meat goes into simmering, not cold, liquid so the outside seizes and the juices stay in it.
- Hold the pot at 85 C, where the surface shivers but never bubbles, for 2 hours 30 minutes. A rolling boil will make the tafelspitz stringy and cloud the broth in twenty minutes.
- Add the carrots, parsley root, celeriac and leek for the last 40 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the meat rest in the broth 15 minutes.
- Grate the horseradish and the apples finely, working near an open window; fresh horseradish is far more volatile than the jarred kind and it will find your eyes.
- Mix them with the vinegar and sugar. Apfelkren should be loose, pale and freshly grated, made within the hour, because grated horseradish loses its heat fast.
- Carve the tafelspitz across the grain in 1 cm slices. Serve it in a shallow dish with a ladle of its broth over, the apfelkren and a chive sauce beside it, and roast potatoes. The broth goes to the table first, with the marrow spread on toast.
Dishes with a similar flavor shape
- Sheet-Pan Sausage, Peppers, and Onions — Italian-American
- Beef Enchiladas with Chili Gravy — Tex-Mex
- Skillet Pork Chops with Apples and Onions — American
- Martin'S Minestrone — Italian
- Gulyás (Goulash) — Hungarian
Keep reading: what umami, richness, sweetness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.