Jewish Brisket
This is the brisket that anchors every Ashkenazi holiday table - Rosh Hashanah dinner, the Passover seder, a Friday-night Shabbat. You sear the meat hard until the surface is mahogany, then build a slow braise on its rendered fat: onions caramelised down to gold, garlic and tomato paste deepened with paprika and brown sugar, wine and stock pulling the lot together. The brisket goes back in fat-side up and the pot disappears into a low oven for three hours plus, until a fork meets no resistance. The trick almost every recipe insists on is the overnight rest. You cool the meat in its sauce, slice it cold against the grain (warm brisket shreds, cold brisket slices clean), then reheat the slices in the sauce before serving. Spoon the onion-rich gravy generously over mashed potato, kasha or buttered egg noodles.