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Rump Steak, Savoury
Cut the rump steak three-quarters of an inch thick, trim it neatly, and brush it over with oil. Broil as already directed in the recipe BEEF STEAK, RUMP. Have ready two finely-minced shallots and the strained juice of a lemon. Lay the steak on the dish, pour the juice over, and sprinkle the minced shallot upon it. Serve very hot, with fried potatoes round the dish.
A plain grilled steak dressed at the last moment with raw shallot and lemon — closer to a French entrecôte à l'échalote than to anything sauced. The whole point is speed between grill and table.
- Dress it at the table, not beforeDress it at the last moment -- lemon juice sitting on hot beef will dull the cut surface. Have the shallots minced and the juice strained before the steak goes on the heat, and pour them over as the dish leaves the kitchen.
- Thickness and heatThree-quarters of an inch is a thin steak by modern butchery. Over a very hot grill or in a ripping-hot heavy pan it wants roughly 2-3 minutes a side for medium-rare; anything slower and it dries before it colours.
- "Rump steak" in a British bookThis is the cut Americans sell as top sirloin — a lean, well-flavoured muscle from the hindquarter, not the US "rump roast" (round). Ask for top sirloin or a bavette if you want something similar in character.
- ShallotsUse true shallots, finely minced, not a substitute of red onion, which is coarser and sweeter. A brief soak in cold water and a squeeze dry takes the raw bite down if the shallots are strong.
- Rest, then dressThe original says nothing about resting. Give the steak 3-4 minutes on a warm dish, then pour over the lemon so the juices and the dressing come together.
- Oil rather than butterBrushing with oil is deliberate — butter burns and blackens over a broiling fire. A neutral oil with a high smoke point still serves best here.
- YieldA single steak of this size serves one generously or two modestly. Note that the original gives two shallots and the juice of a whole lemon to the one steak; reduce if that seems sharp for modern taste.
- The fried potatoesCut them thin and fry them while the steak rests, so they arrive crisp. Ringing the dish with fried potatoes was a common Victorian presentation for a grilled steak.
The book places this among a run of rump steak variations; rump was a common grilling steak of the Victorian British kitchen — cheaper than fillet and sold in most butchers' shops. The treatment here, raw minced shallot and lemon juice over a broiled steak, echoes the French à l'échalote manner, in which the acid and the allium stand in for a made sauce, though the French versions more often use a cooked shallot reduction. Shallots had been grown and used in England since at least the seventeenth century. That the recipe assumes the reader will turn back to an earlier entry for the actual broiling is typical of the dictionary form the book adopts: it is organised as reference rather than as a sequence to be read through.