With a love for beef, it’s no surprise the United States offers a range of regional steak recipes. Oftentimes, such dishes shine not only through cut and cooking style, but through flavor pairings, too. Take steak de Burgo; a dish popular in Iowa that’s not-so-common elsewhere.
This regional classic involves a straightforward-yet-mouthwatering technique. While the beef’s seared in a pan, a garlic-herb sauce is built alongside, below the cooking meat. The steak’s juices mingle with the aromatic base, thereby enhancing it with a beefy flavor. Once the meat’s done, white wine deglazes the pan, with butter, cream, or both subsequently stirred in to thicken the mixture. The resulting sauce is rich and flavorful — a perfect complement to a thick steak cut, such as tenderloin or filet mignon. The taste of the meat is still allowed to shine, but with the aromatic sauce, further garnish of herbs, and a side of potatoes or roasted vegatables, the dish elevates into more than simply a seared steak.
Steak de Burgo coats seared tenderloin in a rich herb-garlic sauce
Like with a delicious herb-roasted tenderloin, there’s a magical nature to the combination of aromatics, garlic, and richly flavored beef. In fact, the pairing is so beloved in Iowa’s capital city of Des Moines that there’s contention regarding the dish’s origins. After all, like many other American regional foods, the dish’s cultural roots are unknown.
Some say the name references the Spanish city of Burgos. Others cite the dish migrated from New Orleans, or was created at a Greek-American restaurant. The employed herbs shift — basil and oregano are the most common candidates, but thyme also ends up in the mix. While cream or butter now define the dish, some suggest olive oil acted as the original fat base. Generally, Des Moines residents agree the dish’s inception occurred at one of two restaurants. There’s Johnny & Kay’s, which famously used butter, or Vic’s Tally Ho, which relied on an olive oil-based recipe. Unfortunately, both closed in the 20th century, making it no longer possible to bite into the dish’s history. Nevertheless, steak de Burgo is still available around Des Moines, delighting diners with its tried-and-true melding of flavors.
