Oxtail soup is the triumph of slow cooking: over hours the bony meat cooks into a deep-flavoured, gelatinous, full-bodied soup that warms you through on a cold evening.
1. In a hot pan brown the oxtail pieces hard, deep brown on every side – this gives the soup its rich flavour.
2. Put them into a large pot, throw in the roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery stalk, and brown those too.
3. Sprinkle over the wheat flour, add the tomato purée, and fry it, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the raw flavour of the flour goes.
4. Pour in plenty of water, add the bay leaf and the thyme, and bring it to the boil.
5. Covered, over a low heat, cook it for 2.5-3 hours, until the meat comes away from the bone by itself.
6. Pick the meat off the bones, strain the soup if necessary, then put the meat back. Season it with Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.
Tip: If you cook it the day before, the set fat is easy to lift off the top in the morning, and the soup has a cleaner flavour.
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