The Best Bookmakers Toast Recipe

Jump to:

• A delicious Bookmakers toast recipe originating from Sweden
• How to make the best Bookmakers toast
• Choose your favourite steaks
• The secret ingredient in the sauce
• Choose your toasting bread
• It's easy to make Bookmakers toast
• More delicious dinner recipes on the blog
• Bookmakers toast recipe (Served in 15 minutes)

Bookmakers toast is a classic Swedish bistro-style hot open sandwich that has succulent pieces of steak on top of a crisp slice of toast topped with horseradish and divinely runny egg yolk.

Even though this is an incredibly easy-to-make impressive sandwich, it certainly gives similar dishes such as 'Biff Rydberg' or steak tartare a run for their money. Biff Rydberg is another Swedish steak classic that again pairs steak and eggs but in the form of rare cooked cubes topped with the delicious gooey yolk. It is a sort of cooked version of a steak tartare which our bookmakers toast takes its inspiration from too.

A delicious Bookmakers toast recipe originating from Sweden

Scandinavian food has a very rich history and one which has taken evolution from not only its own heritage but from other countries such as Russia and France. Much of the french way of cooking has intertwined itself in Swedish cuisine and bookmakers toast and Biff Rydberg are certainly two of those dishes and well worth preparing for a simple meal that is actually quite decadent.

For our own flavourise version of this Swedish toast classic we have brought together the flavours of a classic steak tartare and combined them with the simple ingredients of a hearty Bookmakers toast. Since the first mention of bookmakers toast was in August Escoffier’s “le guide culinaire” in 1903, we thought it fitting to infuse a little bit more frenchness into the dish.

How to make the best Bookmakers toast

Steak tartare which is the classic french way of serving a raw fillet steak includes wonderful flavours such as a tangy tomato sauce, spicy mustard, intense capers, pickled cornichons, fresh parsley and shallots, either with an egg yolk mixed in or on top. Giving this tasty sauce a twist for the Bookmakers toast just means adding some warm spicy horseradish. This simple addition of flavour that provides extra heat, completely alters the final taste so that the original toast is elevated to the next level whilst not losing any of its original charm.

For some, the thought of eating a completely fresh, raw piece of meat may not be so appetising as it actually is, so this Bookmakers toast is a really good recipe to try out instead.

Choose your favourite steaks

For our own take on this delicious warm toast recipe, we have used a seasonal lamb steak which we sear but you could certainly use your favourite cut of beef steak or go for game meat such as venison. The good thing with meats such as these is that you can enjoy them however you like best. A fresh steak can be enjoyed anything from rare or even blue to being totally cooked through. You won’t lose out on the juiciness as the sauce will see to that as will the explodingly gooey egg.

The secret ingredient in the sauce

The sauce we have created for this Bookmakers toast that is elevated by the horseradish is so good it could be bottled. We like to use freshly grated horseradish but if you can’t find that then a decent horseradish sauce will do instead.

If you ever want to prepare a really impressive steak tartare, we would also recommend this easy sauce recipe for that too. 

The texture of this sauce needs to be smooth and creamy, which differs from a steak tartare sauce which is a more glistening sauce interspersed with small pieces of cornichons and capers. To create this thicker more voluminous smooth sauce, cream cheese is added to a base of tangy tomato sauce and Dijon mustard. Just grate in some fresh horseradish and cornichons, add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and blend together with a stick blender. If you only have a high-speed blender then you may have to double up on the quantities so that the blades process them. This is not such a bad thing as you will then be left with more of the sauce which you can then bottle and store in the fridge to use another time. This is so simple, but what you get is, smooth, creamy yet tangy sauce that has a warming spicy heat. The blended tomato with the pickle, spice and cream works perfectly for slices of succulent steak on top of a crisp slice of toast.

Choose your toasting bread

For the bread, there are quite a few options you could try. You do need to be able to keep the toast crisp though, so an ordinary white loaf doesn’t make the grade. Use a ciabatta slice or sourdough, but best of all use some Italian toasting bread. All you need is a toaster or lightly toast it under the grill.

Of course, this is a sandwich too, so some lettuce and tomatoes need to go on as well. You could use ordinary sliced tomato and lettuce but this is a flavourise dish, we want as much flavour as we can get from every ingredient. For another umami punch, some slow roasted tomatoes add that extra dimension. These are simply homemade but you can buy perfectly tasty ones in jars from the deli or supermarket. As for the lettuce, as we have used lamb in our recipe, we have opted for lambs lettuce. Why not.

It's easy to make Bookmakers toast

When making this bookmaker’s toast, whether using lamb steaks in this recipe or using another steak this is the first part to get on with.

Before pan-frying, your steaks make sure they are room temperature. This will help them cook better when you place them in the hot pan. Just rub them with some olive oil and season well with salt. Put the pan on a high heat and leave to get hot itself.

When ready, place the steaks into the pan. You don’t need to add more oil as the steaks themselves have enough oil on them. A nice steak cut will be about 2-3cm thick and for a medium-rare steak you will only need to cook it for about 2-3 minutes too. Turn it regularly during the cooking and when it is done to your liking place the steaks on a wooden board and let them rest.

This resting process is important so that the juices kind of coagulate up inside and don’t leak all over the place when you cut the meat into the 1cm thick slices to place on your toast.

Next, make the sauce which doesn’t take long, and toast your bread.

Most long slices of toasting bread won’t fit into a traditional toaster so either place it under the grill and watch it to make sure the bread doesn’t burn or be prepared to toast half the bread at a time and turn them around to be toasted all over.

Spread a spoonful of the sauce over the bread then top with some slow-roasted tomatoes and lettuce.

Arrange the steak on top then place another spoonful of the sauce carefully in the middle. Make a little well in the sauce and crack an egg for each person and separate the yolks from the whites and place the yolks on top of the sauce.

Liberally grate over more fresh horseradish if you have it and season with salt and pepper and you are ready to go. Quick, simple, but what a treat.

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