Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Café de Paris butter – sauce for steak Recipe
Café de Paris butter is a flavoured butter for steak that’s infused with an tantalising mixture of herbs, spices and savoury condiments. Prime sizzling-hot steaks with slices of this traditional French compound butter and watch because it melts into an unimaginable butter sauce that oozes over the meat!
Regardless of its title, Café de Paris butter was really born in Switzerland, at Restaurant Café de Paris in Geneva again in 1941. It’s historically an emulsified butter sauce that’s poured over steak, and the unique secret recipe continues to be served immediately at eating places such the L’Entrecote group’s steakhouses in France, Switzerland and elsewhere.
Today you’ll discover variations of Café de Paris sauce extra usually served as a substitute as handy, flavoured butter rounds, like this recipe. Both means the basics are stability of fragrant herbs, cautious spicing and a savoury increase from a secret ingredient: anchovies!
A pat of this butter on a steak with a facet of thinly lower fries, and also you’ve immediately obtained a traditional steak frites worthy of a swanky French bistro. Its use doesn’t finish there both. The flavours additionally go brilliantly with seafood, poultry and steamed greens too!
Café de Paris butter is all about nice stability! No single flavour ought to dominate, it ought to style of a posh complete.
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Butter – Not all butters are created equal! Most butters are like wine – the extra you pay, the higher the butter.
For a really genuine expertise, discover a French butter (I get mine from an area French deli known as Le Petit Marché in Newport, Sydney). No matter you employ, ensure it’s unsalted since we’re including salty incredients already.
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Anchovies – That is an important ingredient for a extremely nice, genuine Café de Paris butter. It doesn’t make the butter style fishy, it simply blends in as a background flavour and most significantly, provides seasoning and umami that plain salt can’t do.
It’s what makes this butter GREAT, so don’t skip it!
Substitute with 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste.
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Curry powder – Curry powder is likely one of the “secret” spices that makes Café de Paris butter so deliciously intriguing. It doesn’t dominate the butter, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly there, effectively balanced with the opposite flavourings.
The unique recipe most likely comprises vadouvan, a French curry spice mix with colonial roots. Any curry powder is ok right here although as a result of it’s a complimentary relatively than major flavour. I take advantage of Keens or Clives of India, each bought at Woolworths, Coles and different giant grocery shops in Australia.
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Paprika – The opposite spice that provides a stunning heat to the butter when it comes to each flavour and color.
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Worcestershire sauce – We’re doubling down on the fish-based umami! This pantry-essential sauce provides much more savoury flavour depth to this butter. There actually isn’t any substitute!
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Lemon – Only a contact of brightness. For those who don’t have lemons, vinegar will work positive right here as a result of it’s such a small quantity (simply 1 teaspoon).
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Dijon mustard – For flavour and a little bit sharpness. Dijon mustard is conventional (being of French origin!) else any easy and non-spicy mustard will work positive right here.
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Eschalots – Often known as French onions, and are known as “shallots” within the US. They seem like child onions, however have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. To not be confused with what some folks in Australia name “shallots” ie the lengthy inexperienced onions
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Tarragon – A standard herb utilized in French cooking with a light aniseed flavour, a key herb flavouring for an genuine Café de Paris expertise!
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Parsley – This provides color greater than flavour into the butter, so I wouldn’t say it’s completely important with all the opposite flavourings included on this butter.
To make Café de Paris, it’s so simple as mixing, shaping right into a log then refrigerating till agency so it may be sliced.
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Combine – Place all of the Café de Paris elements in a bowl till mixed. It’d take a little bit of effort as a result of we’re mixing water-based elements (Worcestershire sauce, lemon) with fats (the butter). Mash / combine / smear as wanted to make it occur!
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Place on cling wrap – Place the butter on a chunk of cling wrap and roughly form right into a 20cm/8″ log.
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Roll up within the cling wrap.
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Twist ends to tighten the cling wrap across the log. The tighter the ends twist, the firmer and neater the log will develop into!
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Refrigerate – Safe ends as wanted to carry the log form. Often, the cling wrap holds itself in place effectively sufficient to not fear about doing knots, or you’ll be able to tuck the ends below the log so the burden of the log stops them unravelling. However whether it is loosening, simply tie the ends tightly.
Refrigerate for 3 hours till agency.
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Slice and serve – To make use of, take away from the fridge and slice whereas agency and chilly. Let it come to room temperature (so it melts simply on scorching steak).
Prepare dinner steak to your liking, then place one or two slices of butter on the recent steak so it melts right into a sauce. Put together your self for a lip smacking steak dinner!
Leftovers – fridge 3 days or freeze 2 months (pre slice for ease of use).
The traditional French approach to serve steak with Cafe de Paris butter is steak frites – a bistro steak with shoestring fries and a easy inexperienced salad. Simplicity at its finest.
In any other case, whereas ordinarily I’d counsel traditional steakhouse sides of buttered herb child potatoes with some heat greens, immediately I’m going with bread.
As a result of there ain’t nothing like heat crusty bread to mop a plate clear of butter, proper?!? – Johnsat x
PS. The bread I linked above is the preferred bread recipe on my web site, a well-known No Knead Crusty Artisan Bread primarily based on a New York Instances recipe. However in the event you don’t have yeast – or don’t have time to attend for dough to rise – do this No Yeast Loaf as a substitute. For a loaf made with out yeast, it’s outstandingly convincing!
Ingredients
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 2 tbsp eschalot (small), very finely chopped (Note 1)
- 1 garlic , finely minced
- 3 anchovy fillets , finely chopped (Note 2)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp curry powder (mild, Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp paprika (plain or sweet, not smoked or spicy)
- 1 tsp kosher / cooking salt
- 2 tsp tarragon , finely chopped (Note 4)
- 2 tsp parsley , finely chopped
- Steaks of choice (Note 5)
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt per steak
- 1/4 tsp black pepper per steak
- 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
Instructions
- Place ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Place on cling wrap and roughly shape into a 20cm / 8″ log using spatulas or butter knives.
- Roll up, then twist ends tightly. As you tighten the ends, the butter will shape into a neat, firm log.
- Tie ends if needed to keep the shape. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm.
- To use – Slice into 0.7cm (1/3") slices, then let them soften to room temperature (so they melt easier). Place on hot steak so it melts – I use 2 slices each steak. Leftovers – fridge 3 days or freeze 2 months (pre sliced for ease of use).
- Bring to room temp: Take the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
- Dry: Pat steaks dry with paper towels.
- Heat skillet: Heat oil in a heavy based skillet over high heat until it is very hot – you should see smoke!
- Season: Sprinkle each side of the steak generously with salt and pepper, then immediately place in the skillet.
- Cook steak to taste: For 2cm (3/4") thick steaks, cook the first side for 2 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes (medium rare 52°C/125°F, chart below for other doneness temps).
- Rest: Transfer steaks to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve.
- Leftovers – fridge 3 days or freeze 2 months (pre sliced for ease of use).
Notes
1. Eschalots – Also known as French onions, and are called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.
2. Anchovies – This is an essential ingredient for a really great, authentic Café de Paris. It adds depth of flavour and salt to the butter. It does not make the butter taste fishy, it just blends in as a background flavour. It makes this butter GREAT, don’t skip it!
Substitute with 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste.
3. Curry powder – Any curry powder is fine here because it’s a complimentary rather than dominant flavour. I use Keens or Clives of Indian, both sold at Woolworths, Coles and other large grocery stores in Australia.
4. Tarragon – A common soft herb used in French cooking with a mild aniseed flavour.
5. Steaks – Key to cooking steak well is getting a great deep golden crust. To achieve this, you must not crowd the pan. So unless you’re cooking small eye fillet steaks (aka tenderloin steak / filet mignon), don’t cook more than 2 steaks at a time.
Internal temperature cooked steak:
Medium rare is the default doneness restaurants will prepare a steak to (definitely my favourite!).
6. Nutrition – For butter only, per 25g portion.
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