Daniel Rogov's
Osso Buco - Ideal For the Cold Days

Winter has finally arrived and with it the need for the kinds of dishes that are filling and full of fat to give us energy. Few dishes better serve these purposes than osso-bucco. The dish, originally from the region of Lombardy but now popular throughout Italy is made by braising veal knuckles in a white wine and tomato sauce containing garlic and onion. In its most traditional form, after the meat is cooked, the sauce is reduced and combined with very finely chopped parsley. The resulting dish is rich in flavor and the meat is so tender that the use of a knife in cutting the meat should be unnecessary. Perhaps best of all, when well made there is plenty of tasty, soft bone marrow in the bones to be scooped out. Following are my nominees for the restaurants in the country that make the very best osso-bucco. The best beverages to accompany the dish are good Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino or Valpolicella wines.

Roshfeld: 23 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, Tel Aviv (in the Golda Center). Tel 03-6094666. Chef Jonathan Roshfeld's dishes are a marvelous combination between the country style and the highly sophisticated. His veal osso-bucco, of a generous portion of meat, cooked in a red wine stock is cooked just to that point where it was falling off the bone. Served on a bed of rich, root vegetables the dish is a symphony of north Italian flavors.

Il Pastao: Rehov Ibn Gvirol 27. Tel Aviv. Tel. 03 5251166. Served with a Milanese sauce, of finely chopped meat that has been seasoned nicely with juniper berries, bay leaves and red wine, this version has an abundance of meat and marrow to add to its pleasure. Be sure to accompany the dish with a side-order of potato gnocchi.

Bistro Dalia Renaud: Rehov Agripas 10 (in the alley), Jerusalem. Tel. 02 6257647. The lamb ossobucco here is cooked in a rich herbed stock and pleases not only because of the quality of the meat but by being served on a creamy puree of white beans and its accompaniment of an eggplant gratin.

Pre Megadim: Rothschild 3, Mazkerit Batia. Tel: 08 9349946. Lamb ossobucco at its very best in a countrified setting that cannot help but please. Be sure to ask for a portion of roast couscous to accompany your dish.


Bouquet Garni: Moshav Ramat Raziel (near Jerusalem). Tel: (02) 570-1047. In the Provencal-Mediterranean style, this delicious veal ossobucco is served with root vegetables, potato puree and a red wine sauce so rich that it will make you sigh with pleasure.

© Daniel Rogov

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