oxtail stew Cordoba style

Today the weather just outside Blackpool is absolutely amazing: clear skies, very little wind and plenty of sunshine. Why then am I cooking an oxtail stew better suited to the lightless days of January and February? Because I felt like it, plus I liked the look of the meat when I was in the butcher's. (I am relatively sure that the apostrophe back there is correct - the word shop being taken as understood.)

Anyway if you want presentation, Masterchef style, with towers and swirls and extra prepostions that bring nothing to the party, you are in the wrong place. Simplicity and taste are the watchwords here. 

Although only cooking for Cheryl and me, I seem to have acquired 1 kilo of oxtail. This means we will be eating this stew for days. So, in time-honoured fashion, here are the ingredients for 4 people:
1 kilo of oxtail, 1 large onion, enough garlic cloves to suit your palate, 2 tins of tomatoes,2 tins of haricot beans (in truth just about any good quality tinned beans will do, with the possible exception of the red kidney beans usually used for chilli con carne) a bit of tomato puree, a pinch of dried oregano (entirely optional) a pinch of chilli flakes, a little salt and little sugar to taste, some olive oil, a tin of anchovies, a little plain flour and 2 good sized glasses of a full bodied red wine. 
Firstly dust the oxtail in seasoned flour and brown the meat in batches, using some of the oil from the anchovies and a little olive oil from your store cupboard, in a heavy based saucepan. Whilst  the meat is browning, finely chop the onions, garlic and the anchovies. To make this easier you should drain the anchovies of their oil. This makes the anchovies easier to handle and, of course, you can use some or all of the oil from the anchovy can to cook with. When you have browned all the meat, remove it from the pan and set to one side. Then add the chopped onions and garlic along with the oregano and the chilli flakes. Gently fry these until the onions and the garlic have softened up and acquired some colour. Next add the finely chopped anchovies and fry for a further ten minutes or so until no trace of their original form can be seen. By this time, hopefully, you will have drained the tinned beans and opened the canned tomatoes.All the remaining ingredients can now be added to the saucepan.(that include a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar). Don't forget the wine! Turn the heat up and bring to a simmer. Once the contents of the pan have reached a gentle rolling simmer, what I normally do is to put a heat diffuser under the pan (you might have to turn the heat up again briefly) and let it simmer with the lid on for 4 hours. You might get away with 3 hours depending on the quality of the meat you have used, but I once had a batch that barely responded to 6 hours at a low simmer.  If the sauce is still too liquid, you can always take the lid off and let it simmer that way for a further 45 minutes to an hour.
During preparation I recommend the Gloria Estefan album, "Mi Tierra" and a glass of something suitably hale and hearty. 
Why it is that this dish is so associated with Cordoba, I don't know - given that it is one of the hottest cities in the whole of Europe.(Actually, although I don't know, I suspect it dates back to the days of the Caliphate, when Muslim, Christian and Jew could all have tucked into a dish of oxtail without ever breaking any religious commandments.) All I can say is that October is a perfect time to visit, especially if you are leaving behind the drizzle of the UK. A sunny day with 22 degree temperatures and no particular agenda, except to wander round the narrow maze of alleyways that forms the Juderia barrio, hard by the famous Mezquita, is one of life's great pleasures. If you can find a typical local bar/restaurante/taverna in which to have a leisurely lunch, then that should make a pretty good end to a morning's sightseeing. Don't forget to have a look at the bronze statue of Maimonides, which happens to be the work of the father of my good friend Rafael.