What does carbonade mean?
A carbonade is a hearty stew of beef braised slowly in beer, classically prepared with onions and traditionally associated with Belgium, particularly Flanders, where it is known as carbonade flamande. The long cooking allows the malt and slight bitterness of the beer to tenderize the meat and lend it a deep, savory flavor, making the dish a staple of cold-weather home cooking and tavern fare. In older or more general usage, the term could also denote meat grilled over coals, reflecting an earlier sense tied to charcoal cookery. The word derives from French, ultimately connected to 'carbon', meaning coal. Today, carbonade surfaces mainly on menus and in food writing, where it signals rustic continental comfort food; cooks may also encounter the variant spelling 'carbonnade'. It is a useful term for anyone describing European stews or the distinctive use of beer in braising.
nounA dish of beef stewed slowly in beer, typically with onions, and often served as a specialty of Belgian cuisine; more generally, meat grilled or braised over coals.
- A Belgian (especially Flemish) stew of beef braised in beer with onions.
- Meat grilled or broiled over charcoal; a dish of such meat.
"For Sunday dinner she prepared a traditional Flemish carbonade, letting the beef simmer for hours in dark ale."
"The bistro's menu featured a rich carbonade flamande served with thick-cut frites."
"On cold winter evenings, nothing satisfied like a slow-simmered carbonade of beef and onions."
The plural follows regular English patterns and is uncommon outside menus or recipe collections describing multiple preparations.
"The cookbook devoted a chapter to carbonades from across northern Europe."
Belgium's beloved national stew, carbonade, trades red wine for beer — proof that ale can do what Bordeaux does.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of carbonade
Carbonade entered English from French in the early modern period, with the root ultimately traceable to Latin 'carbo', meaning coal or charcoal, via its derivative forms. The original sense referred to meat cooked over coals, and the word later came to designate specifically the Belgian beef-and-beer stew, whose French name is carbonnade flamande. Cognates include other words built on the Latin coal root, such as 'carbon' and 'carbonate'.
How carbonade is actually used
The word appears most often in culinary writing and menus referencing Belgian or northern French cuisine. The spelling 'carbonnade' (double n) is common in French-influenced contexts, while 'carbonade' is the standard English form.
Easily confused with carbonade
Carbonnade is simply the French spelling of the same dish, so the two are variants rather than distinct words; 'carbonade' is the anglicized form.
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid in chemistry, unrelated to the culinary sense of carbonade despite the similar spelling.