Steak Recipes, Stocks & Sauces

Bavette et Sauce Saint-Marcellin

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Sliced bavette steak served with Saint-Marcellin sauce and black pepper on a grey plate

A Lyonnais bouchon classic. A creamy cheese sauce doesn’t immediately seem to be a good match for steak but the gentle lactic acidity that Saint-Marcellin, another Lyonnais icon, gives to the sauce means it pairs beautifully with a well-flavoured cut such as bavette. Flat iron or onglet will also work very well. Pommes frites and a green salad will go perfectly with this.

This recipe is by Henry Harris and is kindly reproduced with his permission from The Racine Effect (Quadrille, £40); photography © Sam Folan.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Method

  1. Remove the steaks from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before you wish to cook them.
  2. Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over a high heat, then season the steaks with salt and pepper and fry them hard for a couple of minutes on each side for rare to medium-rare. Remove from the heat and rest in a warm spot for 5 minutes.
  3. While the steaks rest, put the crème fraîche or cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and feed in the Saint-Marcellin piece by piece, stirring continuously until the cheese and its crust have dissolved and a glossy, slightly unctuous state is reached. Season with black pepper and a small pinch of salt.
  4. Slice the steaks thinly and arrange on plates, then spoon around the sauce and any resting juices.

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Henry Harris is an acclaimed chef, restaurateur and food writer who has worked in food and hospitality for more than 40 years. He began his career waiting tables in his father’s restaurant before becoming an apprentice at Hilaire under Simon Hopkinson. He later followed Hopkinson to Bibendum as his number two, before going on to open Harvey Nichols’ Fifth Floor Restaurant.

In 2002, Henry opened Racine in Knightsbridge as chef patron, creating a much-loved London restaurant devoted to the food of Paris, Provence and the South West of France. Since then, he has written for titles including The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer and Noble Rot, alongside consultancy work for restaurants and groups including Soho House and The Groucho Club.

In 2022, Henry opened Bouchon Racine with his business partner Dave Strauss to widespread critical acclaim. His second cookbook, The Racine Effect, was published in March 2026.