I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again: the secret to surviving winter is gravy, and you won’t persuade me otherwise. 

It’s not like I’m saying anything new. The Spanish knew it with their cocido and cazuela, while the French pot-au-feu (literally ‘pot on the fire’) has been cited as the very ‘foundation of France’. 

While we think of braises, stews and casseroles as being largely a European obsession, rich gravies created by wet cooking are prized around the world, whether they’re in the curries and dals of India, the delicious nkatenkwan peanut and chicken soup from Ghana or the clay-pot stews of China. 

The joy of the longer, slower cooking of braises and stews is that this is perfect for tougher, cheaper cuts of meat. Another big tick is that the oven (or slow cooker) does most of the work. They also make the house smell great, and as the fat and collagen in the connective tissues break down, it makes your gravy thicker and richer. 

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Credit: Ben Dearnley

How to make a casserole, stew or curry taste even better

Stews, casseroles and curries are simple beasts, but there are easy tricks to make them taste even better. Brown your meat and deglaze the pan before adding your wet ingredients. This will maximise flavour. You should also take time cooking your base, whether it’s the mirepoix for your French boeuf bourguignon, the soffritto for your Italian chicken cacciatore or caramelising the onions – and sometimes garlic and ginger, too – for your favourite curry. 

Here are my favourite winter dishes that are all about the gravy. 

Chicken a la Normande 

This might be the greatest braise ever made, and it’s back in fashion as we re-embrace creamy dishes. It’s a celebration of all that’s great about the north of France: the chicken, the butter, the cider, the apples and the cream. A little mustard adds bite.

Classic ragu with polenta dumplings 

Call it a ragu  if you want to serve it to your posh friends, or call it a casserole if you’re serving it to your family.

Braised beef short ribs with sticky pineapple sauce  

My mother in law’s recipe for this much underestimated dish reads like a sh*t-storm of ingredients… curry powder, vinegar, pineapple juice, tomato paste, soy sauce and the addition of walnuts for crunch at the end. Surprisingly, the end result is eye-wateringly delicious. The recipe can work equally well with other cheaper cuts, too.

Credit: Ben Dearnley

A simple French cassoulet 

Basically a bean stew, but with its crunchy, cheesy gratinated crust, also so much more. The secret is to use powdered gelatine to deliver the lip-stickiness of the much slower-cooked French original, and adding the cannellini beans in two batches – allowing the first lot to braise down over the extra time to make the dish creamy, blurring the lines between carbs and sauce.

Super-easy fish puttanesca 

Essentially, all pasta sauces are, at their heart, braises. So why not make this one with winter fennel, red onions, tomatoes, olives and capers and then, when it’s all come together in the oven, quickly cook a large chunk of flaky white fish in it? You can serve it with pasta if you want… or just plump for crusty bread.

Spanish chicken chorizo bake 

Sure, it’s basically a one-pot/traybake, but it’s also a braise, as it’s the canned tomatoes, sherry, vinegar and stock that help to cook everything, and in the process turn into a slurpable sauce. As with other rich one-pot braises like osso buco, everything can be lifted with a herby gremolata. I mixed parsley with almonds, olive and orange to add when serving.

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