Chef Juliette
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Cèpes à la Bordelaise
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2068, Cèpes à la Bordelaise, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Cèpes à la Bordelaise turns fresh porcini bronze and frizzled in hot oil, then folds in chopped stalks, shallot, crumbs, lemon, and parsley, with every ounce of flavor protected by an uncrowded pan.
Side Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 side-dish servings
Cèpes à la Bordelaise (Bordeaux-style porcini mushrooms) teaches one hard truth: mushrooms brown only while the pan has enough strength to drive off their moisture. Crowd them and they stew. Give the broad slices fierce heat and room, and their edges turn bronze while the centers remain tender and deeply savory. The source calls this thoroughly frizzled, an excellent word for a surface dry enough to sizzle without turning the flesh leathery.
This is one of those classical entries that needs none of the brigade's stockpots, saucier work, or salamander. What it assumes is a broad sauté pan over powerful heat, a cook able to toss everything without cooling the oil, and a warmed timbale ready for service. For four side servings, the book's half-pound working ratio is doubled exactly: one pound of sliced caps, two ounces of chopped stalks, two teaspoons of shallot, and two tablespoons of crumbs. A 12-inch skillet used in two batches and a warmed shallow serving dish replace the professional pan capacity and timbale. Those are scaffolding. The hard frying and the late addition of stalks, shallot, and crumbs are the dish itself and do not move. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The finished cèpes should arrive glossy and bronze, their irregular edges lightly crisp beneath the teeth, with parsley fresh against the dark mushroom and only a few bright drops of lemon. The step that matters most is the frying: keep every batch in a single layer until the sharp sizzle returns after each toss.
Cèpes à la Bordelaise belongs to Bordeaux and the Gironde, where porcini gathered from the oak and pine country of southwestern France met the local habit of cooking generously with oil, shallot, parsley, and bread. The preparation traveled from household and market kitchens into the classical repertory without losing its plain logic: fry the mushroom hard, then use crumbs to catch the excess oil. Despite the name, this dish contains neither red wine nor sauce bordelaise; here à la Bordelaise identifies the regional treatment of the cèpes, not a marrow-enriched wine sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh cèpe caps
Quantity
6 cups (1 lb / 454 g)
cut crosswise into 1/4-inch (6 mm) collops
fresh cèpe stalks
Quantity
3/4 cup (2 oz / 57 g)
finely chopped
high-heat olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup (60 ml / 55 g)
divided
shallot
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 8 g)
finely chopped
fine dry white breadcrumbs
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 14 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
3/4 teaspoon (4.5 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon (0.6 g)
divided
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2.5 g)
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g)
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh cèpe capscut crosswise into 1/4-inch (6 mm) collops | 6 cups (1 lb / 454 g) |
| fresh cèpe stalksfinely chopped | 3/4 cup (2 oz / 57 g) |
| high-heat olive oildivided | 1/4 cup (60 ml / 55 g) |
| shallotfinely chopped | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 8 g) |
| fine dry white breadcrumbs | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 14 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 3/4 teaspoon (4.5 g) |
| freshly ground black pepperdivided | 1/4 teaspoon (0.6 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2.5 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •30 cm / 12-inch heavy skillet
- •Large rimmed tray for holding the first batch
- •Kitchen scale for preserving the cap-to-stalk ratio
- •Warm shallow serving dish
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the cèpes
Brush away loose earth and wipe the cèpes with a barely damp cloth. Trim only the dirty ends, separate the caps from the stalks, and pat everything thoroughly dry. Cut the caps crosswise into broad 1/4-inch collops and finely chop two ounces of sound stalk. Keep the pieces uncovered while you prepare the pan; trapped moisture is the enemy of the frizzled surface.
- 2
Ready the finish
Place the chopped stalks, shallot, and breadcrumbs beside the stove in separate small bowls, because the final minutes move quickly. Measure the lemon juice, chop the parsley, and warm a shallow serving dish with hot water. Dry the dish before the cèpes arrive.
- 3
Heat the pan
Set a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and swirl it across the surface. It is ready when it shimmers, runs freely, and gives off the first faint scent of warm olive oil. If it smokes aggressively, lift the pan from the heat for several seconds, then continue.
- 4
Frizzle the cèpes
Season half the sliced caps with half the salt and pepper immediately before they enter the pan. Spread them in one uncrowded layer and leave them untouched for 60 to 90 seconds, then toss every 30 seconds until their edges are deep bronze, slightly curled, and dry enough to sizzle sharply, about 4 minutes. Transfer them to a rimmed tray. Add the remaining oil, season the second batch, and repeat. If liquid pools and the sound falls to a quiet bubbling, transfer half the caps to the tray at once and let the water boil away; when the sharp sizzle returns, finish the smaller batch and repeat with the rest. Ça se rattrape.
A single layer is not fussiness here. Cèpes release water before they brown, and the bare pan around each slice gives that water somewhere to escape. - 5
Add the late finish
Return the first batch to the skillet with the second. Add the chopped stalks, shallot, and breadcrumbs together, exactly at this late moment, and toss over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. The stalks should soften and bronze in spots, the shallot should lose its raw bite, and the crumbs should cling in fine golden flecks while absorbing the excess oil. They are there to catch the fat, not to form a breaded crust.
- 6
Finish in the dish
Tip the cèpes immediately into the warmed serving dish. Dot the surface with the lemon juice, scatter over the chopped parsley, and taste before adding any more salt. Serve at once, while the edges still carry the work of the hot pan. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Cèpes are Boletus edulis, often sold as fresh porcini. Buy about 18 to 20 ounces whole so you can select one pound of sound cap slices and the required two ounces of stalk. Choose firm mushrooms with dry, tight flesh and pale pores underneath; dark, spongy pores belong in a sauce, not this pan.
- •This dish truly needs fresh cèpes. Frozen porcini release more water and can make a good sauté, but their softer texture produces a cousin rather than Cèpes à la Bordelaise. Dried cèpes carry magnificent flavor, yet they cannot give you these frizzled edges.
- •Use oil suited to high heat. Butter would brown before this quantity of cèpes had shed its moisture, and it changes the source's Bordeaux treatment. Garlic and wine are common temptations, but this entry calls for shallot, crumbs, lemon, and parsley, and that spare sequence is worth defending.
- •Serve the cèpes beside roast beef, duck, or a plainly roasted chicken. A red Bordeaux is welcome in the glass, not in the skillet.
- •Cèpes soften as they stand. If leftovers remain, chill them uncovered until cold, then cover and keep for one day. Reheat them in a wide, dry skillet so their moisture can escape.
Advance Preparation
- •Clean and separate the cèpes up to 6 hours ahead. Keep them in a single layer on a paper-lined tray in the refrigerator, loosely covered, and do not season them until the skillet is hot.
- •The shallot and breadcrumbs can be measured up to 4 hours ahead. Chop the parsley and squeeze the lemon shortly before cooking.
- •Do not fry the cèpes ahead or hold them under a cover. The last-minute pan work is the dish, and covering traps the moisture you worked to remove.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 100g)
Calories
175 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
475 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
5 g
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