Pariserbøf or directly translated Parisian steak is just as French as French fries. Pariserbøf or Pariser bøf as it is also written is a traditional, Danish dish – which is also available in many Danish restaurants – and it is quick, cheap, and easy to make.
Why it’s called Pariserbøf, I do not know. Maybe because the steak is the capital of the piece of the white bread it is served on. That type of white bread is in Denmark named French bread – franskbrød. Or maybe because capers are served – which are added or served to almost everything in France.
Nobody knows the origins of the term Pariser bøf, so it is like so many other things. The name sticks but the story is long forgotten.
Pariserbøf recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pepper – most people use pickled chopped beets, but I like the edge the red pepper gives
- 1 red onion
- 500 g minced beef
- A little butter to fry in
- 4 slices of good country bread or similar – not too coarse but also not completely white bread
- 4-8 lettuce leaves – all depending on size
- 4 egg yolks
- 3-4 tbsp. capers
- 2 tbsp. finely grated horseradish – buy a fresh horseradish – buy a fresh horseradish and grate it yourself, there is much more flavor in it than in the horseradish you buy grated
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the pepper and cut it into cubes – the stick and the seeds should just be removed and not used.
- Peel the red onion and cut it into rings.
- Shape the meat into four equal round steaks, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fry them on a pan with a little butter.
- Fry the bread slices in the fat – alternatively you can toast them. This makes the dish less fatty, but it also affects the taste – if you like the taste to be more “greasy”
- Rinse the lettuce leaves and spread them on the bread slices.
- Place a steak on top, and garnish with onion rings, horseradish, capers and grated horseradish, and finally pour a raw egg yolk all over it. You can also serve the egg yolk in a small bowl or in a half eggshell next to it.
Pariserbøf with Fried Eggs
Some people refuse to eat raw egg yolk, more because of the consistency and the idea that the egg yolk is raw than because of the taste. I do have such a person in my family.
If you also have one or more such family members, give them a fried egg instead of the raw yolk. Actually, it might not be called Pariser bøf at all. Because the raw egg yolk is an essential element when we talk about Pariserbøf. But hey, for the sake of peace of mind we serve fried eggs instead of raw yolk if our guests are more comfortable with that.
