Entrecote a la bordelaise
Photo: happy_serendipity · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

The recipe was born in the Medoc vineyards in the 19th century, when winemakers grilled beef on the embers of the old barriques after wine season. Today most Bordeaux brasseries grill the steak over vine sarments rather than vine barrels, but the wine-and-shallot sauce with marrow has stayed canonical. The Bordelais bistros La Tupina, La Brasserie Bordelaise and Le Mably each keep their own version, and the sauce is sometimes called sauce bordelaise across French menus.

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Common allergens: None

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 30 minTotal 45 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 2 entrecote steaks, 250g each, room temperature
  • 200ml red Bordeaux wine, preferably a Medoc
  • 4 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 bone marrow, sliced into 4 disks
  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
  • Vine cuttings or oak chips for grilling

Method

  1. Soak the marrow disks in cold salted water for 30 minutes to draw out blood.
  2. Build a hot grill over vine cuttings or oak. Salt the steaks generously and let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  3. Reduce the red wine with the shallots in a heavy pan until syrupy, about 12 minutes. Strain or leave rustic.
  4. Whisk in the butter off the heat to mount the sauce. Adjust seasoning. Add the chopped parsley.
  5. Poach the marrow disks in barely simmering salted water for 90 seconds, drain.
  6. Grill the steaks 3 minutes per side for rare, basting with marrow fat once. Rest 5 minutes.
  7. Plate the steaks, top with a marrow disk each, spoon the bordelaise sauce around.

Tip from the editors. If you cannot find marrow bones, sub with a tablespoon of beef fat melted into the sauce at the end.

Where to eat entrecote a la bordelaise

Entrecote a la bordelaise in Bordeaux

La Tupina ★ 4.5

€€€ French RegionalSaint Pierre

La Tupina in Bordeaux's Saint-Pierre district is the southwestern French institution founded by Jean-Pierre Xiradakis in 1968, now led by chef Franck Audu.

SignatureEntrecote a la bordelaise, Tricandilles, Sanguette

TipSit near the open fire for the tricandilles; the lunch formula is a serious value if you book ahead for noon on a weekday.

Directions Book

La Brasserie Bordelaise ★ 4.2

€€ BrasserieSaint PierreUntil 00:00

La Brasserie Bordelaise in Bordeaux's Saint-Pierre is the golden-triangle institution on Rue Saint-Remi with non-stop kitchen service from noon to midnight.

OrderBeef cheek a la bordelaise with a glass of Saint-Estephe

TipKitchen runs without a break so a 22:30 plat principal is no problem; book a window table for the after-theatre crowd.

Directions

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