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What
Is Bordelaise, Really?
Dick asks:
I went to Mansur's in Baton Rouge a few days ago. I ordered grilled redfish. They had bordelaise sauce as an extra on the menu, so I ordered it, thinking of the fabulous redfish bordelaise served at Drago's years ago. I also thought of the spaghetti bordelaise I've always loved at Mosca's. Butter, olive oil, garlic, and parsley. They brought out something that looked like marchand de vin sauce. When I argued with the waitress, she went back to the chef, and he brought me a food encyclopedia which described it exactly as they had prepared it. Have I gone over the deep end, or is there one bordelaise sauce in New Orleans and another one everywhere else in the world? Tom sez: That's exactly it. Bordelaise is a reference to Bordeaux, where the main product is red wine. Anywhere in the world other than New Orleans, Bordelaise is a red wine sauce. For some reason, around New Orleans the word came to mean that olive oil/butter with garlic and parsley, particularly in the Italin restaurants and steakhouses. The switch happened after Antoine's came along, apparently: their escargots bordelaise does indeed use a red wine sauce. When I see the word on a menu, I always ask what they mean. Revised 3/10/08 Copyright © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. |
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