Season the beef with salt and pepper, brown in oil in a casserole for 10 minutes, and preheat oven to 160°C.
Slice two onions, remove beef from the pan, and fry onions for five minutes until browned.
Add thyme and bay leaf, return beef to pan, then pour in stock mixed with tomato purée and wine.
Cover and cook in the oven for 3 hours, turning the beef halfway through.
Prep remaining onions into eighths, peel carrots into 3cm chunks, and cut celery into 4cm lengths.
Sauté the chopped vegetables in a frying pan until softened and lightly browned.
Check the beef's tenderness and return to the oven if still firm.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the casserole and cook for another 1 to 2 hours until tender.
Whisk eggs, grate the large onion and potatoes, and place in a colander.
Squeeze all moisture from the potatoes and onions, then mix with eggs, flour, salt, and herbs.
Heat oil and flatten handfuls of the potato mixture in the pan to 1.5cm thickness.
Fry latkes for 8 minutes per side until golden, then repeat for the remaining mixture.
Reheat latkes on a tray in a 200°C oven for 10 minutes until crisp before serving.
Carve the beef and serve with the vegetables, latkes, and cooking liquor.