Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large non-reactive container for brining (ceramic, plastic, or stainless steel)
• •Large stockpot, big enough to hold the brisket submerged
• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan for the parsley sauce
• •Sharp carving knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the brine

   Put the water, salt, sugar, peppercorns, juniper berries, bay leaves, cloves and saltpetre (if using) into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve. Take it off the heat and leave it to cool completely. This matters. You cannot put raw meat into a warm brine. Let it go stone cold, patient as you like.

   Saltpetre gives salt beef its familiar rosy pink colour. Without it, the beef will be grey-brown when cooked. It tastes the same either way. If you want the pink, most chemists or online suppliers carry it. If you don't mind the colour, leave it out and lose no sleep.
2. 2

   Brine the beef

   Place the brisket in a container large enough to hold it submerged: a deep ceramic dish, a large plastic tub, a stockpot. Pour the cooled brine over the beef. It must be fully covered. If it bobs up, weigh it down with a plate. Cover and refrigerate for five to seven days. Turn it once a day if you remember. If you forget, it won't matter much. The brine is doing the work.

   Five days is the minimum for a proper cure on a 2kg piece. Seven days gives a deeper, more savoury result. Anything less and the salt won't have reached the centre. Ask your butcher to roll and tie the brisket for you. A compact shape brines and cooks more evenly.
3. 3

   Rinse and set to poach

   When the brining days are up, lift the beef from the brine and rinse it well under cold running water. Discard the brine. Place the beef in a large, clean pot and cover with fresh cold water. Add the halved onion, the celery sticks, and a couple of the bay leaves from the spice rack if you have them. Bring to the boil. A scum will rise to the surface in the first few minutes. Skim it off with a spoon. Then turn the heat right down to the gentlest simmer you can manage: a few lazy bubbles breaking the surface, nothing more.

   A rolling boil will tighten the meat and make it stringy. You want it barely trembling. If the surface of the water is calm with just the occasional bubble rising, you're there.
4. 4

   Poach low and slow

   Let the beef poach gently for three to three and a half hours, depending on the size and thickness of your piece. Top up with a kettle of boiling water if the level drops below the meat. You'll know it's done when a skewer or sharp knife slides into the thickest part with almost no resistance, like pushing into warm butter. The meat should feel yielding, not firm.

5. 5

   Cook the carrots

   About forty minutes before the beef is ready, add the whole peeled carrots to the pot. They'll cook in the poaching liquor and take on a gentle, savoury sweetness that plain boiled carrots never have. They're done when a knife tip meets no resistance at the thickest part. Lift them out carefully and keep warm.

6. 6

   Make the parsley sauce

   While the carrots cook, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. When it foams, add the flour and stir it into a smooth paste. Cook it for a minute or two, stirring constantly, until it smells biscuity and has lost its raw flour taste. Your nose will tell you. Pour in the milk, a good splash at a time, stirring well between each addition to keep the sauce smooth. When all the milk is in, ladle in the poaching liquor from the beef pot. This is what gives the sauce its backbone: a savoury depth that milk alone can't provide. Let it simmer gently for five minutes, stirring now and then, until it coats the back of a spoon.

   Taste the poaching liquor before adding it to the sauce. It will be salty from the brine. If it's very salty, use less and make up the difference with milk. You can always add more. You can't take it back.
7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Take the sauce off the heat. Stir in the chopped parsley, generous amounts of it, more than looks reasonable. The sauce should be green-flecked and fragrant, not white with a few token leaves. Add the English mustard and a grind of white pepper. Taste it. Season with salt only if it needs it; the poaching liquor may have done that job already. The sauce should taste bright and savoury, with the parsley right at the front.

8. 8

   Slice and serve

   Lift the beef from the pot onto a board. Let it rest for ten minutes. Slice it against the grain, as thick or thin as you like, though I prefer it in generous slabs that hold their shape. Lay the slices on warm plates with the whole carrots alongside. Spoon the parsley sauce over everything, or put it in a jug and let people help themselves. There's something about carrying this plate to the table that feels like a proper occasion, even on a Wednesday.

Chef Tips

• •Talk to your butcher. Ask for a flat-cut brisket, not the point end, and have them roll and tie it for you. A neat, compact piece brines evenly and slices beautifully. This isn't the place for a random cut from the supermarket shelf. The beef is the whole meal. Start with a good piece.
• •The poaching liquor is golden. Don't throw it away. Strain it and use it as the base for a soup the next day, with barley and root vegetables. One meal becomes two. This is how a kitchen should work.
• •English mustard in the parsley sauce is a quiet insistence I won't apologise for. Not enough to make it a mustard sauce, just enough to sharpen things and stop the parsley sauce from being polite. Half a teaspoon if you're cautious, a full teaspoon if you trust me.
• •If you want to serve this as a cold supper instead, let the beef cool completely in its poaching liquor. It stays moist and the flavour deepens overnight. Slice it cold, thinner than you would hot, and serve with pickles, mustard, and good bread.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef must brine for five to seven days in the fridge. This is not optional. Plan accordingly.
• •Once cooked, the beef can be cooled in its poaching liquor and refrigerated for up to three days. Reheat gently in the liquor, or serve cold.
• •The parsley sauce is best made fresh, as the parsley loses its brightness if it sits too long. The base sauce (before adding parsley) can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently, stir in the parsley just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)