Faux-filet or Contre-filet - A UK Sirloin, a USA Strip Steak.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com


  A faux-filet with French fries
and Sauce Bearnaise.
Photograph courtesy of stu_spivac
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/4848411280/
 

A faux filet (also called a contre-filet) is a rich and juicy cut taken from just below the entrecote (the US and UK ribeye).  The way the steaks from this cut are prepared and the sauces they will be served with make this a delightful part of your culinary journey in France.  You’ll be thinking where can I get steaks like this back home.

The cut of beef shown above is known as a sirloin steak in the UK and a strip steak in the USA (it may also be called a Kansas City Strip or a Delmonico). The names may be different, but they all describe a cut prepared very differently back home.  Be aware that when the French menu has an English translation only one on the English names will be used so it pays to learn the names of the important French cuts of have the ebook version of this book on your phone.

French chefs take meticulous care when preparing a faux-filet  dedicating more time and attention than that ofm    an average US or UK steakhouse. If a faux-filet needs tenderizing, a French chef will rarely resort to simply hammering it. Instead, they'll often use a red wine marinade to tenderize the meat while preserving its shape and integrity.  Whether grilled, roasted, or lightly pan-fried, a faux-filet is best enjoyed cooked from rare to medium, at the very most medium- well. Cooking this cut well-done will inevitably result in a tough, less enjoyable steak.

 

Examples of a faux filet on a French menus:

 

Duo de Veau: Ris de Veau aux Morillons, Pavé de Contre-filet de Veau Rôti – A two-part serving of veal:  For the first part you will be served veal sweetbreads prepared with the morillom, “the half-free morel” mushroom . For the second part will come a thick roasted veal faux filet (the US strip steak). 

            Ris de Veau: Sweetbreads are the joy of gourmands around the world and one of the finest and most easily digested cuts from veal and lamb.  Sweetbreads are best prepared with simple recipes, that enhances their flavor.  Sweetbreads are the thymus glands or the pancreas, preferably from young animals, and outside of farmers’ restaurants French chefs only use lamb and veal. 

          Some diners have been pushed away from trying inside cuts from veal such a sweetbreads and liver and almost certainly never had the chance to taste sweetbreads or calves' liver.  The menu-listing above is the perfect opportunity to try sweetbreads, their delicate flavor will shine through.  Even  after trying sweetbreads you decide that they are not for you the veal steak on the same plate will not leave you hungry.   

         Morillons:  The half-free morel is a wild mushroom that resembles and tastes very much like its family member, the true morel mushroom. However, it has a smaller cap and a longer stem. Morel mushrooms are a whole family of somewhat odd-looking but delicious mushrooms. This mushroom family lacks the gills and shape of regular mushrooms, but that does not mean they are not very tasty. The half-free morel stems will be cooked with the cap and stem;  the stories about the true morel stems not being edible are an urban legend; they simply need to be cooked for a longer. However, according to more than one chef, all mushrooms from the Morel family must be well-cooked and never served raw.



On the left a morillon, the half-free morel mushroom
On the right a morille, a morel mushroom.
Both mushrooms come with different colored caps.

 

Carpaccio de Contre-filet de Boeuf et Copeaux de Parmesan - A carpaccio,  paper-thin slices of beef, from the  UK sirloin, the USA strip steak, served with shavings of Parmesan cheese.

         Carpaccio:  The paper-thin slices of beef marinated in virgin olive oil and lemon will nearly cover the serving plate.  The meat is drizzled with a white sauce made from fresh mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice; shavings of Parmesan cheese are often added.   The thinly sliced marinated beef has the texture of delicately sliced smoked salmon with a flavor that is the Carpaccio's own.

           The dish's original creator was an Italian, Giuseppe Cipriani (1900–1980), owner of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. According to the Cipriani tradition, the dish was created for a regular customer of Harry's Bar whose doctor had forbidden her to eat cooked meat. It was created in the 1950s and called Carpaccio di Manzo, which is Italian for Beef Carpaccio.  Cipriani named the dish in honor of the famous Venetian Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio (1460 – 1526).

          Changes have been made to the original Carpaccio, and today there is a whole world of Carpaccios. Still, the most popular is the original, paper-thin beef. However, Carpaccios now include other meats, fish, shellfish, and vegetables; but all the new Carpaccios have at least one thing in common: they are nearly all uncooked, although some meat and fish may have been marinated, and shellfish, such as shrimp, may be lightly cooked.

          Copeaux: On the menu copeaux indicates shavings, thin cuts or flakes of an ingredient; a versatile term that can describe a variety of items, from cured ham and foie gras to vegetables and truffles, as well as hard cheeses like Parmesan. On a beef Carpaccio, you may find Parmesan cheese shavings, and on a cake, you might find chocolate flakes. These delicate shavings are often an integral part of a dish, providing contrasting textures and flavors that are at the heart of many dishes. 


z    
Beef Carpaccio with Parmesan cheese flakes.

 

Faux-filet de Bœuf Sauce Poivre Vert ou Cèpes - A UK sirloin, a US strip steak, prepared with a green pepper sauce and served with wild French cepes, (porcini), mushrooms.

         Poivre Vert Green pepper. Most French pepper steaks are prepared with green peppercorns, and for good reason. Their milder profile makes green pepper sauce easier to control, ensuring the dish is perfectly seasoned without overpowering the other flavors. When a more fiery taste is desired, poivre noir, black peppercorns will be used.

           Whether noir, black; blanc, white; rouge, red, or vert, green, these are all the same fruit; however, they are picked at different times and treated differently. Each of these four peppercorns offers a distinct level of heat and flavor. Also, be aware that there are many plants with 'pepper' in their name; however, if your French menu only notes the single word Poivre, followed by a color, then that pepper will have come from peppercorns. Peppercorns took their name from the Indian Sanskrit name pippali. The peppercorns’  grow on vines with a possible 1,500 peppercorns on a single vine.

         Cèpe:  The Cèpe or Porcini (also called the Penny Bun in English) is one of the tastiest wild mushrooms. France is blessed with many pine forests, and those are the trees that wild Cèpe likes. In season fresh French Cèpes, as Porcinis elsewhere will be on many menus. That is the time to enjoy the many ways that French chefs offer Cèpes.     Dried Cèpe (Porcini) mushrooms are also popular out of season because they offer a more intense, earthy flavor compared to many fresh mushrooms, and they have a long shelf life. Their ability to be stored for extended periods makes them a convenient and versatile ingredient, especially since fresh Cèpes are difficult to cultivate and in France are in season from July through October though those dates depend on the weather and the region.


           

Cèpe
Porcini or Penny Bun Mushroom
Photograph courtesy of Maxime THIBAULT

 

Le Faux-filet et Son Os à Moelle et Sauce Bordelaise  A UK sirloin, a US strip steak,  served with its marrow bonand a Sauce Bordelaise Sauce Bordelaise is made with veal stock, a Bordeaux red wine, and butter, shallots, and herbs.  When the sauce is made with the addition of a marrowbone and bone marrow, then the menu will note Os à la Moelle.  The more bone marrow added to the sauce creates a sauce with a velvety texture. 
  

            
A faux-filet with French fries.
Photograph courtesy of Joanna Poe
www.flickr.com/photos/jopoe/3676325679/

A sirloin roast was never knighted by an English king or queen.`

At this point, it may be a good time to remove a rather unnecessary story that floats around the USA and UK dining rooms. A loin cut was never knighted by an English King or Queen, hereby creating a Sir Loin—that is nonsense. Instead, much of the English in today's kitchen, including the word 'sirloin,' comes from the changes the  French connection brought to the English kitchen brought by William the Conqueror and his friends. The French word sur means 'above'; so the sirloin is, for the British, a 'sur-loin,' a cut above the loin. Additionally, discussions with British, French, and American butchers and their various diagrams confirm that the British sirloin is what the USA butchers call the short loin.


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Connected posts:

Á la Moelle – Dishes Served With or Flavored With Bone Marrow. Á la Moelle on French Menus.

Bordeaux and Bordelaise on the Menu, and Bordeaux AOC/AOP Wines on the Wine-List.

Carpaccio - The Tasty, Thinly Sliced, (Ideally Paper Thin) Dish of Meat, Fish, Vegetables or Fruits in French Cuisine.

 Copeaux on a French Menu? Copeaux means shavings or slivers.

Foie Gras in French Cuisine. Foie Gras is Fattened Goose or Duck Liver Foie. Foie Gras on French Menus

Frites or Pomme Frites - French Fries in the USA and Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.

Jambon Ham. The Ten Most Popular Air-Cured Hams on French Menus. Ham in French Cuisine.

La Truffe de Périgord, la Truffe Noire - The Perigord Truffle, the Black Truffle in French Cuisine.

Morille, the Morel Mushroom. Morel mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France V.

Ordering a Steak in France, Cooked the Way you Like it.

Parmesan, the Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano is an Important Ingredient in French Cuisine.

Poivre - Peppercorns. Peppercorns in French cuisine and on French Menus. For hundred of years pepper was the most important spice in the world.

Sweetbreads in French cuisine, Ris de Veau (d'Agneau) on French Menus. When sweetbreads are on the menu in France do not pass them by.

The Cèpe, The Porcini Mushroom Grows Wild in France. Enjoy the Tasty Wild Mushrooms Of France III.

The French Connection and The English Kitchen .

What Does Copeaux Mean on a French Menu?

 

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2025


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