Axoa de veau

Sweat the vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a wide casserole, add onion and both peppers and cook gently for 12 minutes, stirring often; add the garlic for the final 2 minutes. The vegetables should be soft and glossy with little or no browning, and the garlic should smell fragrant rather than toasted. A soft vegetable base gives sweetness without turning axoa into a browned stew. Keep raw veal separate until the vegetables are ready.

Add and lightly sauté the veal. Increase to medium heat, add the 1.5 cm veal cubes and stir for 8 minutes until the surfaces lose their raw appearance and take only light colour. The veal should look opaque on the outside with only scattered light browning, not a dark seared crust. Light sautéing keeps the meat tender and consistent with a moist chopped-veal preparation. Use clean utensils after the raw meat has been incorporated.

Season and simmer. Add thyme, bay, Piment d’Espelette AOP, salt and the 200 ml water; bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 40 minutes. The largest veal pieces should be tender enough to cut with the edge of a spoon and should have reached at least 63 °C. Slow moist cooking tenderises shoulder without flooding the dish. Verify at least 63 °C in the largest piece; the long simmer normally exceeds this.

Reduce to the right consistency. Remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove the bay leaves. The liquid should reduce to a moist coating around the meat and peppers rather than a separate soup-like broth. The final reduction concentrates the vegetable and piment flavour without turning the dish dry. Keep the finished axoa hot for service or refrigerate promptly.