The French dip sandwich is on menus across North America and beyond, from delis to upscale restaurants, served as it was originally conceived or with some variants. For instance, cheese might show up on the thinly sliced beef; some might be smeared with mustard or horseradish. It has also provided inspiration for other cultural dishes.
Although the French Dip Sandwich is not French, (the name referring to the kind of bread used to make the sandwich, a French baguette, rather than its origin), the inventor, Philippe Mathieu was. In 1918, Philippe owned the still existing delicatessen and sandwich shop called Philippe the Original in Los Angeles.
According to the story at the restaurant, Philippe was preparing a sandwich for a policeman and accidentally dropped the sliced French roll into the drippings of a roasting pan. The policeman liked the sandwich and came back the next day with some friends to order the sandwich dipped in the meat pan. As they say, and the rest is history.
However, there is a second theory that the sandwich was created in 1908 at Cole’s P. E. Buffet in LA, possibly for a customer with sore gums, who requested that the crunchy bread be softened with meat juice. For what it’s worth, the controversy remains unresolved.
The classic French dip is a sandwich traditionally consisting of sliced roast beef, served on French bread, and eaten au jus (‘with juice,’ referring to the flavorful drippings of the meat left over from roasting). The juice is commonly served on the side in a small dipping bowl.
These French dip tortilla roll ups put an interesting Mexican spin on the classic.
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- 4 12-inch flour tortillas
- 200 gm (7 oz) Provolone cheese, shredded
- 250 gm deli sliced, cooked roast beef
- 100 gm (1 1/2 cups) French fried onions These are found in the condiment section of the grocery store, usually by the croutons.
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 284 ml beef consommé
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp EACH onion & garlic powder
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Lay out 4 tortillas on a work surface. Distribute shredded provolone cheese evenly over each of the tortillas. Place thin slices of roast beef evenly over the cheese, then sprinkle the French-fried onions on top.
- Roll up each tortilla tightly & place seam side down in a greased baking dish. Brush the remaining oil over the tops of the roll-ups.
- Bake about 10-15 minutes, until roll-ups are browned.
- While the roll-ups are baking, combine the beef consommé, water, soy sauce, onion & garlic powder in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until warmed through.
- Slice roll-ups in half & serve with warm sauce for dipping.