Osso Bucco

We went to my Christmas party last night. It was thrown by my lovely agents, JHA, at The Lansdowne in Primrose Hill. It used to be an old favourite of mine a very long time ago when I worked in Camden and along with The Eagle in Farringdon, was one of London’s first Gastropubs. All these years later and it has remained pretty much unchanged. The party was lovely and so was the food though it was very slow. The gap between starter and main was nearly an hour but when my Osso Bucco arrived it was fabulous – soft and tender and classically paired with saffron risotto, though having said all that, we’d drunk so much during the wait, I might not have been the best judge.


Elizabeth David's Ossi Buchi Milanese
2lb of shin of veal sawn into pieces 2in thick, ¼ pint each of white wine and stock, 3/4lb tomatoes, parsley, a lemon, a clove of garlic, 2oz butter.
Brown the slices of shin of veal in the butter. Once browned, arrange them in the pan so that they remain upright in order that the marrow in the bone may not fall out as the meat cooks. Pour the white wine over them, let it cook for 10 minutes then add the skinned and chopped tomatoes, let them reduce, add the stock. Season. Cook for 1 ½ – 2 hours.
Prepare a handful of chopped parsley, a clove of garlic, chopped, and the grated peel of half a lemon. The Milanese call this mixture gremolata, and it is an essential part of the traditional ossi buchi Milanese. It is to be sprinkled on top of the ossi buchi before serving.
To make the dish as it should be, a very tender veal from an animal not more than three months old should be used. A dish of risotto Milanese always accompanies ossi buchi.