Lou Pastis En Pott (Potted Meat)
Submitted by Spike19
Lou Pastis en Pott, the classic Languedoc potted meat: beef and pork slow-cooked in red wine with juniper, sealed under lard, and built up over weeks. Traditional French preservation cooking.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
6 hrsREADY
2Lou Pastis en Pott is a deeply traditional French preservation dish from the Languedoc region of southern France. The technique is centuries old and brilliant: beef and pork are slow-simmered in dark red wine with herbs, then sealed under a layer of lard so the pot can sit in a cool larder for weeks. Every seven days you add fresh meat and wine, simmer it down again, and reseal. A well-tended pot can run continuously for years.
The traditional wine is Cahors, the inky, near-black red from southwest France that gives this dish its characteristic mahogany color and tannic backbone. Substitute any robust, dark red Bordeaux-style blend if Cahors isn’t available. The wine should just cover the meat at each cooking stage.
Low and slow is the absolute key. The directions specify a 250°F (120°C) oven for 90 minutes to 2 hours per round. Don’t rush it. The collagen needs that long to break down into the silky jellied texture that makes this dish unique.
The lard seal is a real preservation step, not decoration. It blocks oxygen and prevents spoilage. Don’t skip it or short it.
Serve sliced cold like a country paté, or warmed gently and spread on toasted bread with cornichons.
Pro Tips
- Use a glazed earthenware pot if possible. The thermal mass holds steady low heat better than metal.
- Trim hard sinew before slicing. Anything that won’t break down in 2 hours stays chewy forever.
- Crush the juniper berries lightly before adding to release their piney aroma.
- Keep the pot in the coldest part of the fridge between cookings (ideally 38°F / 3°C or below).
Variations
- Add a strip of orange zest to the wine for a brighter aromatic profile.
- Stir in a tablespoon of Armagnac before sealing for extra depth.
- Use venison or wild boar in place of some of the beef for a rustic Gascon take.
Ingredients
Directions
This is an unusual potted meat prepared only in the Languedoc.
Serves 8 to 10 Time: Start at least 2 weeks ahead; 30 minutes plus 2 hours cooking, repeated 3 times First cooking: deep red Medoc) Second and third cooking: the same ingredients again each time. You will need a large straight-sided earthenware pot. Scald the earthenware pot and grease it thoroughly with a little of the lard (you can line the bottom with a few fig or walnut leaves if you have them). Cut the beef and pork into slices, trimming the gristle and sinews as you do so. Put the bay leaves on the bottom of the pot. Lay in the meat slices, seasoning with the herbs, salt, and freshly ground pepper as you do so. Pour in the wine - it should just cover the meat. Simmer the pot uncovered over a very low heat or in a preheated 250 F oven, for 1½ to 2 hours, until the volume is reduced by half. Allow to cool. Seal with a layer of lard, melted and poured over the cool meat. Cover with wax paper tied down with string. Leave the pot on a refrigerator shelf for a week. Then remove the lard seal and add in another 2 lbs pork and 2 lbs beef, the whole covered with wine, seasoned and cooked as before. Repeat the operation at the end of another week. You will now have a delicious dark jelly- meat which you can either eat hot or cold. If you continue to replace the volume you have removed, the pot can go on forever.
Comments
Every version of this recipe on the internet has the same errors. Did all of you just copy each other?
First error is in list of ingredients, wines.
Second error is in the First cooking where you mention using something not in the list of ingredients.
I did not read further as two mistakes is already too many.