Svíčková
Svíčková na smetaně is one of the most characteristic Czech dishes — it appears at Sunday lunches and at weddings. The beef is larded with bacon, braised on root vegetables with allspice and thyme, and the vegetables are then blended with cream into a smooth, velvety sauce the colour of pale caramel. It comes with bread dumplings, a spoon of whipped cream, a spoon of cranberry and a slice of lemon — the full set of garnishes matters as much as the meat. The sauce is thickened by the vegetables alone, not by flour, which is why there must be plenty of them.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Larding and vegetables 20 min
- Browning 20 min
- Braising 150 min
- Sauce (meat resting) 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneLard the meat
Cut the bacon into strips about 0.5 cm thick — 15 minutes in the freezer makes it easier to cut and push in. Make holes along the grain with a narrow knife and push the strips in, evenly along the length. Rub the meat with salt and pepper.
Ingredients: 1200 g beef topside or silverside, in one piece · 80 g smoked bacon for larding · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Bacon inside the meat bastes it from within.Brown the beef
Heat the oil in a lidded roasting pan or a wide cast-iron pot (about 5 litres) and brown the meat for 10 minutes, turning, until dark on all sides. Move to a plate.
Ingredients: 1200 g beef topside or silverside, in one piece · 80 g smoked bacon for larding · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Fry the vegetables
Cut the vegetables and onions into 1 cm dice. Add the butter to the pan and fry them for 10 minutes, until they start to colour.
Ingredients: 300 g carrots · 200 g celeriac · 150 g parsley root · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 6 pcs allspice berries · 8 pcs peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 2 pcs thyme sprigs · 600 ml water or stock · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tbsp sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tsp mustard
There must be plenty — they thicken the sauce.Braise
Set the meat on the vegetables, add the allspice, peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme, and pour in the water (about 600 ml) to a third of the meat's height. Cover and braise over low heat (or at 160°C in the oven) for 2–2.5 hours, turning the meat every 40 minutes and topping up with water if it cooks away. Test with a fork after 2 hours — if the meat resists, keep going.
Ingredients: 300 g carrots · 200 g celeriac · 150 g parsley root · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 6 pcs allspice berries · 8 pcs peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 2 pcs thyme sprigs · 600 ml water or stock · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tbsp sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tsp mustard
Lift out the meat
Test with a fork: the meat should be tender but not falling into strands. Take it out, cover with foil and rest 30 minutes while you make the sauce — rested meat keeps its juices when sliced.
Ingredients: 1200 g beef topside or silverside, in one piece · 80 g smoked bacon for larding · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Blend the sauce
Fish the allspice, peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme out of the sauce — left in, they make it bitter and gritty. Blend the vegetables smooth, adding cooking liquid until the sauce is like thick cream.
Ingredients: 300 g carrots · 200 g celeriac · 150 g parsley root · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 6 pcs allspice berries · 8 pcs peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 2 pcs thyme sprigs · 600 ml water or stock · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tbsp sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tsp mustard
Completely smooth, no trace of vegetable.Season the sauce
Add the cream, vinegar, sugar and mustard and simmer 10 minutes, stirring. The sauce should be both slightly sour and slightly sweet — season with salt and balance to taste.
Ingredients: 300 g carrots · 200 g celeriac · 150 g parsley root · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 6 pcs allspice berries · 8 pcs peppercorns · 2 pcs bay leaves · 2 pcs thyme sprigs · 600 ml water or stock · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tbsp sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tsp mustard
Serve
Cut the meat across the grain into 1 cm slices, arrange on plates and ladle over the sauce. Whip the cream to soft peaks. Top each plate with a spoon of whipped cream, a spoon of cranberry compote and a slice of lemon. Serve with bread dumplings.
Ingredients: 100 ml whipping cream (30%) for whipping · 6 tbsp cranberry compote · 1 pcs lemon
Before you start
Better the next day
Svíčková is traditionally made a day ahead: the meat is kept whole in the sauce and sliced only after reheating. The slices stay moist and the sauce improves.
Dumplings
The classic side is Czech bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky), sold ready-made in loaves for slicing in some supermarkets and Czech shops. Steamed yeast dumplings are the closest substitute.
Storage
It keeps 3 days in the fridge and 3 months frozen. Reheat the meat in the sauce, covered, without boiling, so the cream does not split.
