Alcatra is the signature dish of Terceira: chunks of bone-in beef with smoked bacon, onion and spices such as allspice and cloves, cooked slowly in the oven under a covering of wine in an unglazed clay dish called an alguidar.
Despite the name, tradition does not call for the cut known as alcatra (rump) but for bone-in pieces such as shin, neck or chuck. It is the dish of the Holy Spirit festivities, though today it is eaten all year round, served in the clay dish itself with massa sovada (Azorean sweet bread) or plain bread to soak up the sauce.
Method
Cut the beef into large pieces, leaving the bone in, and rub it with salt.
Combine the meat, wine, black peppercorns, allspice and cloves in a bowl and leave to marinate while you get everything else ready.
Slice the onions into half-moons and the bacon thinly, and peel the garlic. Heat the oven to 180 °C.
Rub the inside of the clay dish with some of the lard and scatter a little onion and garlic over the base.
Build up layers of meat, interleaving them with the onion, garlic, bacon, bay leaves and cinnamon stick; the top layer should be onion.
Add the wine from the marinade and the water so the meat is almost submerged, then dot the surface with the rest of the lard and the butter.
Cover with foil and bake for 3½ to 4 hours.
About halfway through, uncover, turn the meat over and, if the sauce is running low, top it up with a little wine and water. Finish cooking uncovered until the meat is browned and the sauce is dark.
Bring the alcatra to the table in its clay dish while still bubbling, with massa sovada or bread for the sauce.
Tips
- No clay alguidar? Use a lidded clay pot or an ovenproof cast-iron casserole.
- Use Verdelho or, failing that, a good dry white wine. Some island recipes use red wine instead.
- Check the sauce from time to time: if it is drying out, add a little wine mixed with water.
- If you have the time, cook it even more slowly, at 150 °C for about 6 hours, for meltingly tender meat. A wood-fired oven is the traditional choice.
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