Relais de Venise Secret Sauce: the first attempt

The meat was a perfect tenderloin cut bought at Smithfield, the chips where superbly crisp, but undoubtedly the star of the night was the sauce. My first attempt to emulate Le Relais de Venise secret sauce.

I remember when a copy-cat restaurant opened in Rio (probably 10 years ago). We Brazilians do love our meat, and usually anything on top is just not our cup of tea, but that sauce caught me by surprise. It had such a distinct flavour – herby with a kick – that left me wondering what was inside. The restaurant didn’t convince other Brazilians and closed soon after, but the taste remained in my mouth. After moving to London, I managed to re-encounter it, now going to the original (soon after experiencing the parisian one as well).

So, I challenged myself to give it a go making the sauce at home. After extensive desk research (i.e. googling it), I found this:

• 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 4 anchovy fillets, chopped
• 1/4 cup low-sodium beef broth or homemade chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil

The preparation:
Either using the pan the steaks were cooked in, or another pan: add the wine to pan (and deglaze, if necessary, stirring up the brown bits). Add the broth, shallots, anchovies, and cook until the liquid reduces to a glaze. Remove from heat, whisk in the butter 1 T. at a time, then add the herbs.

My conclusion:
Anchovies was the big rewarding surprise. It is definitely part of the original. On the downside, I think this recipe suggests a bit too much. I would drop half of the suggested portion. What’s missing? I had always tasted mustard in the original, this recipe doesn’t take mustard and I felt it was missing in the flavour. Mental note: go with your guts and add mustard the next time. Lastly, I’m not sure which herb is still missing, but I’m on the case.

Please, feel free to send me suggestions, tips or, even better, the original recipe if you have it. I swear I’ll only keep it at this blog.