Put your heavy-bottomed pot on the fire and let the beef fat melt in it along with the butter. Season the meat well with pepper and salt and brown each piece on both sides until nicely crusted and colored. This is an important step, so take your time, set the browned meat aside in a dish.
Sauté the finely chopped onion and shallot in the same pot and deglaze with the beer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom into your pot, that's where all the flavor is. Cut the gingerbread into smaller cubes and now add all the remaining ingredients, mix them together and add the meat, let it simmer gently under a lid for 1 hour until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally.
Serve a scoop of mashed potatoes in a deep plate, make a well and serve a portion of stew over it... yes, oh yes love this! Finish with finely chopped spring onion.