I ate a lot of brisket growing up. My family is Jewish, so it always appeared on special occasions, especially holidays. My mom’s recipe has a lot of ingredients—beer and tomato and soy sauce—that reduce and reduce and reduce into a thick gravy. This version is the exact opposite. The ingredients are minimal, the method is unkosher. Instead of meat and milk staying separate, they join forces. I borrowed this technique from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking, where she braises pork shoulder in milk, yielding the tenderest meat, the richest gravy. Call it an untraditional new tradition.

Share: