Spraengt Oksebryst

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large non-reactive container for brining, 3 to 4 litre capacity
• •Heavy stockpot, 6 litre capacity
• •Fine grater or microplane for the horseradish
• •Very sharp carving knife or long serrated knife
• •Two plates for pressing, plus tinned weights

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the brine

   Pour the water into a large pot. Add the salt, brown sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns, juniper berries, and allspice. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool completely. Cold brine is the only brine you want near raw meat. Warm brine begins to cook the edges of the brisket and the texture goes wrong before the cure even starts.

   If you are in a hurry, make the brine with half the water hot to dissolve the salt and sugar, then add the other half as ice. It cools in minutes.
2. 2

   Brine the brisket

   Place the brisket in a non-reactive container just large enough to hold it. A deep glass dish or a food-grade plastic tub works well. Pour the cold brine over the meat so it is completely submerged. If the brisket floats, weigh it down with a small plate. Cover and refrigerate for four full days. This is the joy of waiting. The salt is working its way into the meat slowly and evenly, seasoning it all the way through and giving it the pink, firm character that defines spraengt oksebryst.

   Turn the brisket once a day so every part of it spends time at the bottom of the brine. This gives you an even cure from edge to edge.
3. 3

   Rinse and prepare to simmer

   After four days, lift the brisket out of the brine and rinse it under cold running water. Discard the brine. Rinsing is not optional. The surface of the meat holds a heavy load of salt that needs to come off, or the finished brisket will be inedible. Pat the meat dry and place it in a clean pot that fits it snugly.

4. 4

   Simmer with aromatics

   Add the halved onion, carrots, leek, and fresh thyme to the pot with the brisket. Cover everything with fresh cold water by about two centimetres. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat down so the surface barely trembles. A hard boil will make the meat tough and stringy. A gentle simmer is what gives you brisket you can almost cut with a spoon. Cook for two and a half to three hours, until a knife slides through the thickest part with no resistance at all.

   Skim the grey foam that rises in the first twenty minutes. It carries impurities that will cloud the broth and dull the flavor of the meat.
5. 5

   Press and chill overnight

   Lift the cooked brisket carefully onto a deep plate or tray with a lip. Lay a piece of parchment over the surface, then set a second plate on top and weigh it down with two or three tins from the pantry. Let it cool to room temperature, then move the whole arrangement to the fridge overnight. Pressing compacts the fibres so the meat slices cleanly into paper-thin sheets the next day. Without pressing, the slices tear. With pressing, they hold together in silky ribbons.

6. 6

   Make the horseradish cream

   Pour the cold cream into a chilled bowl and whip it with a whisk until it holds soft peaks. Stop before it goes stiff. You want a cream that falls softly from the spoon, not one that stands to attention. Fold in the grated fresh horseradish, the vinegar, the sugar, and a small pinch of salt. Taste it. The heat should rise through the cream in waves, sharp but cushioned. Adjust with more horseradish if you like it fiercer. Only by tasting do you really understand it.

   Grate the horseradish at the last moment. Its heat fades within hours of being grated, and a cream made with yesterday's horseradish is a pale imitation of the real thing.
7. 7

   Slice the brisket

   Take the pressed brisket out of the fridge. Using your sharpest knife, slice it against the grain as thinly as you can manage. Paper-thin is the goal. The slices should almost be translucent where the light hits them. If the knife is dragging, sharpen it or switch to a long serrated blade and use a steady sawing motion. Thick slices of spraengt oksebryst will taste salty and heavy. Thin slices taste balanced and alive.

8. 8

   Assemble the smorrebrod

   Butter each slice of rugbrod generously, right to the edges. Butter is not optional on Danish smorrebrod. It is the glue and the insulation that keeps the bread from soaking through. Lay the slices of brisket on top in soft, overlapping folds so the meat has height and movement, never flat. Spoon a generous quenelle of horseradish cream to one side. Lay a few fans of pickled gherkin alongside. Finish with a small handful of fresh cress scattered across the top. Serve at once, cold, with the rest of a cold lunch spread around it. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Buy your brisket from a butcher you trust and ask for the point end if you can. It has more fat running through it than the flat, and fat is what keeps a long simmer from drying the meat out.
• •Fresh horseradish root is non-negotiable. The jarred kind is flat and vinegary and will not give you the clean rising heat that makes the cream come alive. Look for it at good greengrocers through the winter months, when it is at its best.
• •Serve spraengt oksebryst with cold Danish pilsner or a small glass of aquavit. The bright bitterness of the beer and the caraway edge of the spirit both cut through the salt and the cream in exactly the way the dish was built to be eaten.
• •Keep the cooking liquid. Strained and reduced, it makes a remarkable base for a winter soup with root vegetables and barley the following day. Nothing in a Danish kitchen is wasted.

Advance Preparation

• •The brine cures the brisket over four full days in the fridge. Start on a Monday for a weekend dinner, or five days before any occasion you want to serve it at.
• •After cooking, the pressed brisket keeps in the fridge for up to four days, tightly wrapped. The flavor deepens and the texture becomes easier to slice with every day that passes.
• •The horseradish cream is best made within two hours of serving. Whip the cream and grate the horseradish ahead if you need to, but fold them together at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)