Step 1

Peel the onion, carrots and celeriac and chop them into rough (1.5 cm) cubes. Roughly chop the parsley

Step 2

Add the vegetables to a saucepan. Add the sugar, spices (all spice, juniper berries, pepper corns and bay leafs) and our over the red wine. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer on a medium to low heat for 5 minutes. This is to bring the flavors of the vegetables into the marinade.

Step 3

Now leave it to cool down completely to room temperature. Pour in the red wine vinegar and stir. Place the beef into a deep container with a lid. Pour the marinade over the beef. Ideally, the beef should be completely covered by the marinade. You can top it up with a little water if small parts still remain uncovered. If you have the ability to vacuum pack the beef, you can also marinade it that way.

Step 4

Place the beef in the fridge to marinade for at least 4 days. 7 days is ideal, but 4 days is sufficient. Turn the beef once or twice during that time, to ensure that the marinade is absorbed evenly.

Step 5

To cook the beef roast, remove it from the marinade. Pat the meat dry with some paper towels. Pour the marinade through a fine sieve. Keep the liquid and set it aside. In a separate bowl set aside the vegetables and spices.

Step 6

Now season the beef from all sides with salt and pepper. Dust with the flour.

Step 7

In a large saucepan heat up the vegetable oil and sear the beef on all sides at a high temperature for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove it from the pot and set it aside.

Step 8

Preheat your oven to 170°C top to bottom heat

Step 9

Add the drained vegetables and spices to the pot and start frying them for about 2 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and fry it with the vegetables for a further 2 minutes. This will release the roasting flavors of the paste, but also give the sauce a lovely brown color later.

Step 10

Deglaze the vegetables with a little marinade juice, just enough to cover the base of the pot. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated and then repeat the process and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Step 11

Fill up the pot with the beef stock and the remaining marinade. Place the meat into the dutch oven. Crumble in the gingerbread or spiced biscuits.

Step 12

Cover the pot with a lid and place it into the oven for about 2 hours. Turn the meat at least once. The meat should end up being really soft when you pick a fork into it.

Step 13

Remove the meat from the pot, wrap it in some foil, and set aside to rest.

Step 14

Pass the sauce through a fine sieve. Then place back onto the hob and boil for approximately 5 minutes. Then add the raisins to the sauce and cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and is thick.

Step 15

To serve, slice the beef into 1.5 cm thick slices and pour over the sauce. It goes well with red cabbage and potato dumplings or spätzle.