A compound butter is one of the easiest ways to to turn a piece of meat into a meal. It can be as simple as anchovies, garlic or fresh herbs mixed through butter, or as complex as the most famous version: Café de Paris. This butter was created in the early 1940s at the Café de Paris restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland, where it’s still served today. Although it appears on many menus, the original recipe is secret, so everyone has their own variation. My father-in-law worked at the Hotel Savoy in London in the 1940s with a chef who had worked at Café de Paris, and his version has been passed down to our family and appears in several cookbooks. My version is a little simpler than his, but still lifts a simple steak from good to great, and has the advantage that all ingredients should either be in your pantry or easy to come by. Serve entrecôte Cafe de Paris simply with crusty bread to soak up all the delicious butter, add a green salad and/or French fries, or go all out with a decadent, but easy, pommes Dauphinoise (see video below). This recipe makes enough butter for 12 or so serves, but it’s easier to make in this quantity, freezes well for several months, and is great melted over steak, poultry, seafood or vegetables. And alongside, I reckon you can’t beat a glass of Leuconoe Yarra Valley sangiovese from the rather quirky Behn Payten & Troy Jones.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 x 200g sirloin steaks
- Extra virgin olive oil, for rubbing
- Salt flakes, to taste
- Crusty bread, for serving
Café de Paris Butter
- 250g salted butter, diced, softened
- 2 golden shallots, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 5 anchovy fillets
- ½ tablespoon capers in brine, rinsed, dried
- ¼ cup finely chopped curly parsley
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon brandy
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
- ½ teaspoon Keen’s curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- A good grind of white pepper
Method
- Make Café de Paris Butter: place all Ingredients in a small food processor and pulse to combine well.
- Spoon butter horizontally down the centre of a long strip of baking paper, fold the paper over and use a ruler to press against the side, pushing the butter into a long log about 5cm in diameter. Roll up in the paper and twist the ends to secure. Refrigerate until needed.
- Remove steaks from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking, to allow them to come to room temperature.
- Heat a barbecue or char-grill pan over high heat until very hot.
- Rub steaks well with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Cook for about 4 minutes each side for medium, or to your liking.
- Remove from pan, place a thick disc of butter on top of each steak and set aside for a minute or 2 until the butter starts to melt.
- Serve with crusty bread.
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