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Baeckeoffe is a staple of every winstub, as Alsatian people call a bistro/bar. 

Whether you lunch at Le Baeckeoffe d鈥橝lsace in the centre of Strasbourg, the Winstub Henriette in Mulhouse or in the dozen or so winstubs of Colmar, it is highly likely to be on the menu.

Usually served in a bread-dough sealed ceramic casserole dish, it combines three different meats marinated in white wine or Riesling with carrots, potatoes, onions and leeks. 

Its name, however, reflects neither its ingredients nor how it is served.

It means 鈥榖aker鈥檚 oven鈥� in the Alsatian dialect.

It was traditionally prepared and marinated on Saturday evenings then dropped off with a baker on the way to church on Sunday mornings to cook in his slowly cooling oven. 

First, however, the baker would take a "rope" of dough to line the rim of the dish, then place the lid over for a tight seal to keep the moisture in.

Families would pick it up once the long service was over and carry it home to be eaten.

A similar story claims that the dish is so-named because women would not have time to cook on laundry days, so would drop off their pots at the bakery on their way to wash clothes. Their children would pick them up on their way home from school.

鈥淚t is largely a celebration dish. We both had it for our Holy Communions,鈥� said Laurence Messa and Geoffrey Brunetti, owners of Le Schallern, a mountain restaurant in Muhlbach-sur-Munster (Haut-Rhin) that serves it.

Every family makes baeckeoffe with their own twist

It is most often associated with winter, but nobody will argue if you serve it as a treat from May to September. The dish can be eaten whenever you feel like.

Both the Messa and Brunetti families are locked in a friendly dispute over how it should be cooked. They each go to their favourite butcher and winegrower for the choice of meats and Riesling.

More controversially, the Brunettis do not seal their dish with dough, while the Messa family do.

鈥淭here is a sentimental aspect to it. Of course, the best baeckeoffe is always the one your mother cooked,鈥� said Ms Messa.

How to make baeckeoffe

Double Michelin-starred chef Olivier Nasti, from La Table d'Olivier Nasti restaurant in Kaysersberg-Vignoble (Haut-Rhin), cooks it with white wine rather than Riesling. It is his recipe for baeckeoffe that we list here.

He heats the wine in a casserole dish over a medium heat. While it simmers, Mr Nasti chops his three meats of choice 鈥� spare rib, lamb鈥檚 shoulder and chuck beefsteak 鈥� and places them on a tray.

His marinade is all about spices: cumin, juniper berry, black pepper, three or four garlic cloves and clove. Add to the meat and then, pour the white wine over. Let it simmer for four hours, ideally.

Next, slice your carrots, potatoes, leeks and onions and rub your cooking dish with lard.

Start by layering half the potatoes at the bottom of the dish then add your leeks, onions and carrots on top.

Remove the meat from the marinade and add to the dish. Cover with the rest of the potatoes. 

Strain the marinade through a sieve and pour the liquid over the contents of the pot

Mr Nasti does what the Messa family does, circling the rim of the dish with a simple dough braid made of flour and water.

Cook in the oven for three-and-a-half hours.

鈥淪erve with a side salad and a little Munster and everybody is happy,鈥� Mr Nasti said.

Where to find baeckeoffe

Baeckeoffe can be hard to find across other regions of France.

If you visit Metz, you can eat it at Le Winstub but you will need to order it 72 hours in advance.

Paris is not a given either.

Many restaurants specialising in traditional Alsatian cuisine focus either on flammekueche or choucroute, with baeckeoffe nowhere to be seen.

Bofinger, the most renowned Alsatian restaurant in Paris, only has it on the menu in winter.

Meanwhile, choucroute is the most popular product at Schmid Traiteur, an Alsatian delicatessen located on boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris, although it had baeckeoffe on the menu sporadically until late May.