Sweet Cured Beef

Serves 2

This is excellent stuff, slices of raw fillet of beef with a sort of sweet and sour rind and a soft, sweet, tangy centre. We've tried a few different oils, and the best turns out to be sesame, though if you can get it, some argan oil is lovely too - you can get it in the UK but it's stupidly expensive here, instead why not pop off to Morocco, where it's made, mostly by women's cooperatives, and buy some in a souk there at a couple of quid a litre? For the curing, you’ll need a plastic lunch box a bit bigger than the piece of meat, with a tight fitting lid

250g beef or venison fillet in one piece

500g Demerara sugar

150g coarse sea salt

1 thumb sized chunk of ginger (don’t bother peeling, just chop it roughly)

2 star anise ground

75ml tamari

75ml sesame oil or half and half sesame and argan

• Mix all ingredients but the beef in a bowl
• Put enough of this mixture in the bottom of the lunchbox to cover it to about an inch. Place the meat on top of it, then cover with the remainder of the mix. Put the lid on, and place it in the fridge
• Open the box once a day, turn the meat over, and seal again. After 72 hours (3 days), take it out of the mix, rinse quickly under the cold tap, dry with some kitchen towel, and place on a cake rack
• Slice finely, and serve with whatever takes your fancy…