A Tale of Two Sauces

Just as the famous Dickens novel begins with an opening line of extreme contrasts, I want to show you two classic steak sauces that are complete opposites.

Well, one is not-so-classic… but I turn it into a riff on a classic.

Steak is a global culinary fixture.

Thoughts of steak frites in France, the iconic steakhouses of North America, Italian ‘Bistecca alla Fiorentina’ and you can’t forget the Argentinian asadors of South America.

For many home cooking enthusiasts now, the steakhouse is your home!

If you think about that just a few decades ago, getting access to Prime beef was reserved mostly to commercial restaurants; Wagyu beef from Japan was a unicorn in the West and the Argentinian beef that dominates some of the most celebrated steakhouses worldwide now had zero chance of finding consistent export outside the area.

Fast forward now and the global food supply chain has made all of this an easy reality for homecooks to bring any steak home to cook up.

While the internet is overflowing with how to cook steaks ad nauseum… “sous vide”, “reverse sear”, “cast iron”, room temp vs cold, dry brined vs seasoned just before cooking… the conversation I’m interested in having is recreating two iconic steak sauces in your kitchen with some kitchen hacks that I don’t see anyone talking about.

-Chimichurri Classico

-(3) Peppercorn Cream Sauce

So lets dive in today on the first sauce:

Chimichurri Classico.

There have been so many bastardizations of this sauce that it’s best to go back to basics plus a dash of science, with a focus on making the flavour-bomb sauce that Chimichurri is prized for.

In a tale of two sauces, where chimichurri is the zingy, zippy, tangy contrast to a beefy steak; Peppercorn Cream Sauce is the compliment (hence the title).