Main course · The English Sunday

Roast beef

Roast beef is a large joint, usually fore rib, sirloin or topside, roasted whole and carved in slices; in England it is the Sunday roast, with Yorkshire pudding, gravy and horseradish. Browned hot, roasted gently to the chosen doneness and rested, it keeps its juices.

Also known as: Rosbif · Bò nướng lò kiểu AnhLast reviewed 25 Oct 20264 sources

Fore rib, sirloin or topside

The dish is a whole joint, from 1.5 kg / 3.3 lb upwards, browned at high heat and then roasted more gently until the center reaches the chosen doneness, rested and carved at the table. The most prized joint is the fore rib, two to four bones of the rib section (the same muscle as the ribeye), roasted on the bone. Sirloin (the striploin, sometimes with the fillet) is the other premium choice; topside, a lean joint from the hindquarter, and rump are the everyday cuts, and need to be served pink and thinly sliced to stay tender.

The Sunday roast — roast meat, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy, eaten at midday on Sunday — remains one of the defining meals of British home and pub cooking, and beef is its emblematic meat.

The roast beef of old England

Beef roasted on a spit before an open fire was the food of English prosperity from the late Middle Ages, and by the 18th century it had become a patriotic symbol. Henry Fielding's song "The Roast Beef of Old England", written for The Grub-Street Opera (1731), contrasted the beef-eating vigor of the English with the effeminacy they attributed to French fashion; William Hogarth borrowed its title for his 1748 painting of the gate of Calais. The French, in turn, began calling the English les rosbifs, a nickname still in use.

Spit roasting gave way to the closed oven during the 19th and 20th centuries, so most "roast" beef is technically baked. Yorkshire pudding developed as a batter cooked under the roasting meat to catch its dripping fat; Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) gave a recipe under that name.

Ingredients

Method

1. Salt the joint all over 12–24 hours ahead and leave it uncovered in the refrigerator; take it out 2 hours before roasting.
2. Heat the oven to 220 °C / 425 °F. Set the meat, fat side up, on the onions and carrots in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes to brown.
3. Lower the oven to 160 °C / 320 °F and continue roasting. Time is only a guide (about 12–15 minutes per 500 g / 1.1 lb for rare to medium-rare on the bone): use a probe thermometer and take the joint out at 50 °C / 122 °F for medium-rare, 45 °C / 113 °F for rare, 57 °C / 135 °F for medium.
4. Transfer the meat to a board, cover loosely and rest for 30–40 minutes; the center will rise about 5 °C / 9 °F.
5. Meanwhile make the Yorkshire puddings: whisk the flour, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt into a smooth batter. Raise the oven to 230 °C / 450 °F, heat the dripping in a muffin or pudding tin until smoking, pour in the batter and bake 20–25 minutes without opening the door.
6. For the gravy, pour off most of the fat from the roasting tin, stir the flour into the juices and vegetables over the heat, add the wine and stock, scrape up the browned bits and simmer 5 minutes. Strain and add the meat's resting juices.
7. Carve the beef across the grain, off the bone, in slices about 5 mm / ¼ in thick.

Low oven, prime rib, cold slices

Many modern cooks roast at a low temperature throughout, 110–120 °C / 230–250 °F, and brown the joint at the end, a version of the reverse sear that gives an evenly pink interior. The American prime rib is the same rib roast, served in thick slices with its juices (au jus). Cold roast beef, thinly sliced, is the filling of the classic English sandwich with mustard or horseradish, and of the Danish open sandwich with remoulade and crisp onions. In France, rosbif usually means a tied, boneless joint of sirloin or rump sold ready for roasting.

Yorkshire pudding, dripping, mustard

The traditional plate carries slices of beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes cooked in beef dripping, seasonal vegetables, gravy, horseradish sauce and English mustard. Common mistakes: roasting the joint straight from the refrigerator, which leaves a raw center and a grey band outside; cooking by time alone without a thermometer; carving immediately, so the juices run out onto the board; cooking lean topside beyond medium, which makes it dry; and opening the oven while the Yorkshire puddings rise, which makes them collapse.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

4

1. Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (UK). Beef Meat Purchasing Guide. Kenilworth, 2016. ahdb.org.uk
2. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
3. Glasse, Hannah. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. London, 1747.
4. Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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