The One Cut Of Beef Julia Child Stood By For The Tastiest Pot Roast

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Julia Child was the original celebrity chef, but she offered more than just entertainment; she changed the way people cooked, ate, and perceived food, using the nuances of French cuisine to bring an element of excitement to American cooking. However, just because she made cooking accessible doesn't mean it was oversimplified. Child's cookbooks featured recipes with a level of detail we just don't see today, and there is arguably no better example of that than her pot roast made with beef braised in red wine. 

Taken from her iconic 1961 recipe book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," Child's braised beef pot roast is a classic dish often made during the holidays. Prep for the recipe includes marinating the meat and vegetables in red wine for up to 24 hours and the optional "larding" of the beef, adding slivers of pork fat inserted between the beef layers to infuse richer flavor. With all this effort going into the dish, you can imagine how important it is to start with the right piece of meat. Julia Child's go-to cut for her elaborate pot roast was the rump roast.

The cut, taken from the animal's hindquarters, is lean and musclebound, meaning it holds a ton of rich flavor but is relatively tough. This is where the slow cooking and long marination do their magic. While a pot roast can also be made using the chuck, rib, top, or bottom round, the rump roast is the one that Julia Child declared the first choice.

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While purists and any fan of the culinary icon should go through her instructions step by step at least once, there are faster ways to make a delicious pot roast. Even in her book, Child makes a few allowances, including a shorter marination and deeming larding optional (thankfully!). Prepping also cuts down cooking time, and she specifies helpful checkpoints marking how far ahead a recipe can be prepped the day before. Remember, there are several ways to prepare a tender rump roast, so you don't necessarily need to use the cut for a pot roast if you're looking for a quicker meal. You can still use Julia Child's timeless cooking tips in simple, everyday dishes. 

The two most time-consuming steps in making a pot roast are marination and braising in the oven, both of which can take several hours. However, since braising infuses a ton of flavor and also tenderizes the meat, you can actually cut down on the marination when making a pot roast. A good quality rump roast will be delicious, even if you marinate it for four hours instead of Child's recommended minimum of six hours. A more flavorful cut, like the chuck, requires even less marination time and draws most of its flavor and succulent texture from the long cook time. Plus, chuck's additional fat, present between layers of muscle, works much like larding would. Furthermore, you can also speed up your pot roast by skipping the slow cooker and using a pressure cooker instead.