Want to know about a sauce that is good enough to base an entire restaurant menu on? Café de Paris Sauce is your answer!
The original recipe has been a closely guarded secret since the Café de Paris opened in Geneva in the 1930s. The restaurant does ship the 'beurre' to a few other establishments that serve it under licence. This is also commonly known as 'beurre Cafe de Paris'. In actuality, the traditional recipe is a butter sauce for steak.
Chefs have spent a lot of time and energy trying to recreate it. The common thread is lots of herbs, a touch of curry, a touch of mustard, a hint of anchovies, a touch of lemon and lots of other varying ingredients!
You can use soft butter and whip it with the herbs and other ingredients to make Café de Paris Beurre. Then you can just melt the butter over your finished steaks.
When you add cream to the melted 'beurre' it becomes Café de Paris sauce.
This is one of those recipes I wish I had known about many years ago!! I think you might agree once you try it.
This sauce takes your home cooking to restaurant level in a few easy steps!
What to Serve with Cafe de Paris Butter Sauce
The traditional menu is the classic Steak frites combination so famous in Paris bistros.
I served it with Air Fryer Beef Tenderloin. Baby potatoes as a side would also work well.
But don't stop there! Whether you leave it as butter or add the cream for sauce it is also delicious with fish and all kinds of vegetables - green beans, asparagus, roasted cauliflower steaks.
Wine Pairing for Café de Paris Sauce
This is a buttery, rich, savoury sauce and you are most likely pouring it over beef. For a white selection I can think of nothing better than a big, rich California-style Chardonnay. A French maconnais Chardonnay, which is a bit warmer weather style is another good choice.
On the red spectrum, you could pair with the beef primarily. Since it is a rich sauce I would go with a fairly robust red, such as a Côtes du Rhône GSM (Genache/Syrah/Mourvedre) blend or a Bordeaux. A Cabernet Sauvignon with its savoury notes would also be a great choice!
Related Recipes
Café de Paris Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter cubed
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 anchovies in oil, minced or 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon flaked sea salt
- 1 Tbsps capers
- 2 Tbsps chives finely chopped
- 2 Tbsps tarragon finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon parsley finely chopped
- 2 Tsp fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon if using dried thyme
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Add butter, shallot, garlic, anchovy, curry powder, cayenne, mustard powder and salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 6 minutes until the shallots soften and butter becomes golden colour.
- Add the capers and the herbs and grind of fresh pepper. Cook one minute more.
- Add the whipping cream and lemon juice and heat a couple of minutes until warmed through. Don't over mix. The sauce should not be uniform or emulsified. You should see some separation between the butter and the cream components.
- Serve with steak, roast beef or grilled vegetables.
ralph hetke
makes tenderloin even better if that's possible
Cuno
This is Beurre de Paris. Not Sauce de Paris.
thewineloverskitchen
Actually, once you add the cream the 'beurre' becomes 'sauce'!
Hande Barlas
Can't thank you enough, you've really made my day!! This is the only sauce I fell in love with and I can't wait till I can try it myself. Hope I can find all the ingredients... All my best wishes.
thewineloverskitchen
You are welcome! I hope you enjoy it! I make it again and again!
Clause
Ohhhhhh - a bit different from my swiss receipe but still ... tasty. Somehow different and more .... english - but nice 🙂
thewineloverskitchen
Oh thanks.. feel free to share your variation!!