from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
An 8-ounce (225 gram) US Filet Mignon
This wonderful looking steak in not a Filet Mignon in
France!
Photograph courtesy of Arnold Gatilao
https://www.flickr.com/photos/arndog/3054022064/
A true story.
A
French businessman meets his English and American colleagues in Paris and they
decide to have lunch together in a restaurant famous for its meat dishes.
Without waiting for a menu, the Frenchman chooses the best steak dish he can
think of and orders a Filet de Bœuf, the Englishman orders a Fillet
Steak, and the American orders a Filet Mignon. The Frenchman and the
Englishman are served excellent cuts from the center of a beef tenderloin,
large fillet steaks. The American was served a superb cut, but from a pork
tenderloin! He had not remembered rule number one. If he had read the
menu, it would have read: Filet Mignon de Veau à la Moutarde, a veal
tenderloin (fillet) prepared with a mustard sauce. The term Filet Mignon
in France is used for veal and pork tenderloins, not beef. With customers who
are confident servers don’t question orders; in this case the server just asked
how they would like their steaks done.
The veal filet mignon was excellent, perfectly cooked, but for filet mignon's in France the
American visitor learned rule number one.
Rule No 1 when ordering a Filet Mignon in France
Read the menu carefully
Rule No 2 is “Read it Again.”
A Filet Mignon in the USA is not a Filet Mignon
in France.
Ordering
a Filet Mignon in the USA indicates that you want the very best. In the
USA, a Filet Mignon is the name given to the tenderloin, a large muscle that is
the tenderest of all beef cuts (in the UK, that’s the Fillet). While
other cuts make great steaks, they may be tastier, but they are not as
tender. A Filet Mignon is the most expensive cut that most US restaurants
offer, and it will generally be served with a sauce.
The meaning of Filet Mignon in French
In
French, the term Filet Mignon means “dainty fillet,” and it does not refer to
the whole beef tenderloin, rather to the narrow, delicate, almost pointed, end
of the tenderloin - the part that is prized for its tenderness.
The
thickest part of a beef tenderloin, the fillet, in France is reserved for
a Chateaubriand and towards the center, a Tournedos. As the
tenderloin becomes thinner, about halfway down, the French will cut their
Filets de Bœuf, beef fillets. For beef, the Filet Mignon is the name given to
the last few inches of the narrowest part of the tenderloin, the part that is
“dainty.”
A whole tenderloin can be called a Filet Mignon in
France
BUT,
THEN IT US A “PORK” OR “VEAL” TENDERLOIN!
Rarely, very rarely, if ever, will there be a Filet
Mignon de Bœuf on a French Menu.
The
confusion over this cut stems from US chefs and butchers adopting French names
for their own use, and that meant altering their original meanings. They
omitted to inform future travelers to France of the changes.
Barded (fat wrapped) USA Filet Mignons.
The smallest steak in this picture will still be too
large for the French Filet Mignon
Photograph courtesy of Bradley West
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyldwest/3519146858/
This beef tenderloin, the filet, has little natural fat. Whether called a filet mignon in the USA, a fillet steak in the UK or a filet de bœuf in France it will be barded, wrapped in fat, before being cooked. Without barding the steak would dry out.
N.B. This cut should never be ordered well done. To order a steak cooked the way you like read the Post: Ordering a steak in France cooked the way you like it.
A whole beef tenderloin, which is boneless, can weigh anywhere from 1.3 kilos (2.5 lbs) to 2.3 kilos (4.5 lbs). In the USA most restaurants start at the thickest end of tenderloin and cut 2" to 2.5" thick steaks until they reach the narrow end. A large sized US Fillet Mignon steak is around eight ounces (225 grams). Some restaurants offer 10-ounce (280 gram) options.
A whole tenderloin.
The smallest part at the end of this cut, on the
right-hand side in the picture above, is the French Filet Mignon, the
dainty fillet.
Photograph courtesy of Marx Foods.
Nevertheless,
in France, cuts taken from the thinnest part of the tenderloin will rarely be
called Filet Mignon. Instead, they
will on the menu as Médaillions, or used for an
excellent Steak Tartar or used for dishes
such as Beef Stroganov.
Whole
tenderloins of pork and veal are much smaller, The French use the term Filet
Mignon for the much smaller, but whole, tenderloins of pork and veal. A Filet Mignon, from an average pig
weigh about 500 grams (17.5 ozs), and that is about enough for three people,
two if they are very hungry. A veal tenderloin weighs about 700 grams
(24.5 ozs), a fair-sized meal for three or four.
Filet
de Bœuf on French Menus:
Filet de Bœuf
Poêlé, Jus de Cresson et Pommes Grenailles –
A lightly fried fillet steak (from the tenderloin) served with a watercress juice flavored sauce and small new potatoes.
Jus de Cresson: A watercress sauce made with the Jus ("juice")
of the wvatercress. It will be combined with the cooking juices from the pan,
resulting in a natural sauce with a watercress accent.
Cresson - The
watercress on your menu will have been farmed, and won’t be as sharp as the wild
variety. As children, my brother and I
used to collect wild watercress from slow-running streams near our home in the
English Lake District, and it was truly spicy.
When dining in the French
countryside, you might be lucky enough to have a meal prepared with wild
watercress supplied by local mushroom and herb gatherers, the "ramasseurs
de champignons et herbes." If so, you're in for a treat.
Watercress has a long history
in France, and already in 810 C.E., watercress was one of the herbs that
Emperor Charlemagne ordered to be grown on his estates as part of his effort to
make them self-sufficient.1
Cresson de
Mérévilles, Label Rouge, is the most
highly rated cultivated watercress in France. It's grown around the town of
Méréville in the department of Essonne, an hour and a quarter from Paris, 74 km
(45 miles). They have been cultivating watercress here for over one hundred
years.
If you’re going to be in the area during Easter visit
a French watercress fair.
The Foire
Annuelle au Cresson de Méréville.
The annual watercress fair in Méréville.
The fair is held from Saturday
through Monday over the Easter weekend, in France. Easter is legally a national
holiday, but not a religious one, in France, although some 10% of the
population attends church. Since the dates of Easter change yearly, check
the Méréville website or any French Tourist Information office.
A Filet de Bœuf with mashed potatoes.
Photograph courtesy of Bex Walton
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bexwalton/18190822953/
Cœur de Filet de Bœuf Grillé, Sauce au Poivre Vert - A grilled center cut from the heart, the center,
of a beef tenderloin, served with a green
pepper sauce,
Sauce au Poivre Vert: A green pepper sauce,. Most French pepper steaks are prepared with green
peppercorns, and for good reason. Their milder profile is easier to control, which
ensures the dish is perfectly seasoned without overpowering the other flavors.
When a fierier taste is desired, poivre noir, black peppercorns, will be
used and that would be clearly noted on the menu.
Filet Mignon de Bœuf en
Brochette Marchand de Vin –
The thin end of a beef fillet cut into cubes and served on a skewer with a Sauce
Marchand de Vin.
Sauce Marchand de
Vin:: A sauce prepared for a wine
merchant.
A beef fillet served this way
allows for the use of the thin end of the tenderloin, the French Beef Filet
Mignon, which may be cut into small pieces. A Sauce Marchand de
Vin is made with red wine and beef stock.
Brochette: A skewer. Read carefully; it’s written with two “t’s” and may easily be confused with brochet, written with one “t,” which is pike, the fish.
Sauce Marchand de
Vin or Sauce Vigneronne – A wine merchant's sauce or the sauce of a vigneronne,
a vintner, a winemaker. While the recipe can vary slightly, Alain Ducasse’s
includes shallots, red wine, butter, lemon, flat parsley, ground pepper, and fleur
de sel.
Filet de Bœuf, Sauce au Porto, Fricassée de Cèpes, Pleurotes et Champignons de Paris – A beef fillet served with a Port wine sauce and a stew of wild Porcini mushrooms, farmed oyster and button mushrooms
Cèpes: The Cèpe, Porcini or Penny Bun is one of the
tastiest wild mushrooms. France is blessed with many pine, chestnut, and oak
forests, which are the trees that nearly all wild mushrooms like, though the Cèpe's
favorite is pine forests. In season fresh Cèpes will be on many
menus. That is the time to enjoy the many ways that French chefs offer Cèpes.
Pleurotes: The oyster mushroom is very popular, with at
least five members of its family cultivated in France. They will be on many menus. They appear on
many menus, not only for their taste but also for their varied colors, and they
are found in many French recipes.
The different strains of these
mushrooms vary in texture from very soft to very chewy. Their association with
oysters comes from the looks of a number of family members and not from any
oyster taste or texture.
Champignons de
Paris: The button mushroom was first
cultivated in the 17th century, though it took another three hundred years for the
first successful, commercially cultivated mushroom to was developed in Paris.
So, in the early 20th century came the Champignon de Paris, the button
mushroom. Following on the button mushroom's commercial success, the search was
on. Cultivating other mushrooms came with serious investments.
Today, we may choose from over
fifteen types of cultivated mushrooms. Cultivated mushrooms, with their
ability to intensify tastes and their wide variety of textures, are now
available year-round. The white button mushroom offers a diverse selection,
featuring four or more varieties in different sizes, with different names,
different prices, and a range of colors. Despite all these differences, the
white button mushroom is the same mushroom as the brown button mushroom.
The same mushroom as the medium-sized Cremini, also called the Portabellini,
Portabella, Portobello, along with five or six other names. The only
difference between all these mushrooms is their degree of maturity and color.
Porto: Port wine is produced in the Douro Valley
in the northern provinces of Portugal. Within the European Union, only
Port from Portugal can be labeled “Port” or “Porto.” However, many other
countries produce Port wines, and in the USA, any country can label its product
as Port. The method for making Port is no longer a secret, and many New World
wine producers make Port-style wines, but I think the original creators in
Portugal still make the best.
Port is a fortified wine; that
is, a wine that has an eau-de-vie, a young grape brandy, added to the
fermenting wine in the barrel. That addition stops the fermentation and creates
a new wine with higher alcohol content. Most Ports have around 20% alcohol.
Ports come in red, rosé and
white varieties. Sweet reds are the Port most often used in sauces, and a
red Port may also be served as a dessert wine. White Port may appear on
your menu in sauces for seafood and fish, and a chilled sweet white Port can be
a great aperitif.
Médaillons de Filet de
Bœuf Balsamique – Round cuts from the end of the
tenderloin (medallions) served
with a Balsamic vinegar sauce.
Balsamic vinegar:
A vinegar that is only produced in and around the city of Modena, Italy.
Despite its Italian origin, the French happily recognize and incorporate the
best products from around the world into their kitchen; their use will be noted
on the menu.
Balsamic vinegar owes its unique taste not only to the
Trebiano grape used in its production but also to how it is aged.
The aging process takes the vinegar through five
different wooden barrels, each adding to the flavor. Unlike most grape-based
vinegars, Balsamic vinegar was never a wine, but during the aging process, the
vinegar itself does ferment. As part of its aging, the cellar master, as
with fine wines, must evaluate the exact amount of fermentation as the vinegar
passes through the five barrels: oak, chestnut, cherry, ash and finally
mulberry, before being bottled. A young balsamic vinegar will rarely be less
than five years old. A good twenty-year-old Balsamic vinegar can be more
expensive than many good twenty-year-old wines.
Médaillons de Filet de Bœuf
These three cuts together will weigh less than 6 or 7
ounces,
(170 to 200 grams).
Photograph courtesy of www.boeufinfo.org/
Tartare de Filet Mignon de
Bœuf – A Beef or Steak Tartar. The best Tartar
will be cut from the end of the tenderloin; no better cut could be used for a
steak Tartar.
Tartare:
Tartar. Steak Tatar is a classic French dish made from finely chopped or
ground raw beef. While it's a French restaurant staple, its name has a much
more exotic and debated origin. The Tartars were renowned and formidable
fighters who emerged from central Asia and rode to war under the command of
Genghis Khan in the 13th century. Twentieth-century folklore has
the Tartar tribesmen riding to war with raw meat under their horses' saddles,
to tenderize the meat as they rode. As they rode, they were said to cut
off pieces of the raw meat with a knife and eat as they rode; they only stopped
riding to sleep. Despite the story, Steak Tartar (Tartare) is far from any
authentic Tartar culinary traditions.
Regardless of the myth the dish as we know it today is
an actual French creation. It is typically prepared with high-quality,
hand-chopped fillet steak, seasoned with capers, shallots, Dijon mustard,
Worcestershire sauce, and often topped with a raw egg yolk. Further
additions depend on the chef. This meticulous preparation and elegant
presentation make steak tartare one of the most celebrated and luxurious raw
meat dishes in French cuisine. If the menu listing offers Steak Tartare
Servi Cru ou Juste Saisi, then you know that there is an option for the
diner to have their Steak Tatare very lightly fried. Many
restaurants offer this option either on or off the menu.
Juste Saisi
means just ready or lightly seared, and it's a very important cooking term for
meat, fish, seafood, and other products that must never be overcooked, or
hardly cooked at all. Despite my personal preference
for the classic Steak Tartare, there are others, including French diners
who, while not wanting a hamburger, do not want the meat completely raw.
If you prefer your steak tartare not completely raw, ask the server when
you order for "just saisi."
A steak Tatar.
Photograph courtesy of Joselu Blanco
https://www.flickr.com/photos/silverman68/6661991137/
Filet
Mignon on French Menus
Filet Mignon de Porc Jus a l'Estragon – A filet mignon or pork served with a sauce made from the natural cooking juices
and flavored with tarragon.
Estragon:
Tarragon is one of France's favorite herbs. Fresh tarragon leaves will be in
salads, salad dressings, sauces, soups, egg dishes and tomato dishes, and it is
a key ingredient in herbal butters and certain vinegars. Tarragon will
also be accenting many meat and fish recipes. Tarragon's aroma reflects its
mild aniseed taste that adds a pleasant bittersweet flavor. While I do
not like heavily accented aniseed dishes or pastries very much, tarragon is
perfect.
Tarragon is an essential part of France's most
well-known herb group Les Fine Herbes and
is the star ingredient in Sauce Béarnaise. French bouquets garni nearly
always include tarragon, and tarragon is often included in the Provencal herb
group, the Herbes de Provence.
Tarragon adds a flavor that can be identified as French, though few first-time
visitors to France can identify it by name.
Filet Mignon De Veau Charolais, Son
Jus Aux Escargots Du Brionnais Et Porto Rouge –
A cut from a tenderloin of Charolaise veal served
with a sauce made from the natural cooking juices and
large-sized farmed petit gris
snails, Burgundy, and a red Port wine.
Charolais: The
Charolaise AOP cattle were the third breed to receive an AOC for their
consistently high quality. To that French AOC has been
added the Pan-European AOP.
Escargots Du Brionnais:
Ordering snails in France should not be strange. If you like seafood such as
mussels, conchs, winkles, and periwinkles etc., you'll likely appreciate escargots,
as they all belong to the same family as snails. They are very close family
members. "Escargots du Brionnais" are a brand from a
snail farm close to a village in the Brionnais region of Burgundy, France.
The Brionnais are "gros gris," which
translates as the "large grey," though they from the family of the petit
gris, the smaller of the two snails that are popular in France.
The French know a thing or two about good food, and
snails are considered to be among the tastiest members of their extended
family. The central and very obvious difference is that escargots grow
on land and not in the sea.
The meat of all snails and their seafood family
members is similar; however, when asked, I do not say they taste like chicken!
Although the sauce and cooking method, like many chicken dishes, may change the
taste of your escargots. The texture of snail meat is similar to that of
their family members, so in France, think of mussels or the popular sea snails,
bulots (whelks) or bigorneaux (periwinkles).
If you like mussels and or cockles, you will love
snails, and if you have been to the Caribbean and enjoyed conchs, you will love
France's snails even more.
Filet Mignon De
Veau, Fricassée De Rattes Et Eryngii, Sauce Au Vin Rouge Et Morilles – A veal filet mignon alongside a stew of ratte
potatoes and farmed King Trumpet Oyster mushrooms
served with a sauce made with red wine and wild morel mushrooms.
Pommes de Terre Ratte or La Ratte: A
small French potato, also called the Asparge Potato. It is not a new
variety in France but a born-again potato. This potato originally came from
Denmark and went out of fashion for a few years. The Ratte was
reintroduced and is again much appreciated for its taste and smooth, slightly
buttery texture; its name will be on many menus.
In French, ratte does
mean a rat or possibly a mouse; however, that just refers to its uncooked form.
With a bit of imagination, these potatoes may resemble a crouching mouse. This
potato's fame is in the taste, not the name.
Now, to decide whether the English translation of a ratte should
be a mouse or a rat, look at Umberto Eco’s book, A Mouse or Rat: Translation as
Negotiation.
The Ratte du Touquet
This is a commercial brand of the Ratte potato only
grown in the north of France.
Ratte Potatoes.
Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia
Eringy or Pleurote du Panicaut: The King Oyster mushroom or King Trumpet
Mushroom is the largest and meatiest of the family of oyster mushrooms. It
tastes and looks very different from the rest of the family with a much meatier
texture and a different taste. The King Oyster is a mushroom that can be
grilled, roasted, sautéed, and is often part of stir-fried recipes. Unlike some
other mushrooms, which have tough stems, this mushroom is different, and its
meaty stem makes it a popular addition to vegetarian or vegan dishes. It can be
sliced lengthwise and grilled like a steak, shredded, or cut into rounds that
look like imitation scallops.
Morille: Morels are a prized family of tasty mushrooms with a decidedly
different look to most other mushrooms and a slightly nutty taste. Morels lack
the gills and domed caps of many other mushrooms, but they all have white to
ivory-coloured stems and a honeycombed conical cap. Dried morel' caps,
which you may see in the market, appear tube-shaped due to the drying process.
However, when rehydrated, the conical cap returns. The morels' taste and
texture make them a French favorite; they are served fresh from early spring
through to the beginning of June. (The idea that Morel stems are not edible is
an urban legend, though they are tougher than the cap and require a longer
cooking time.)
More French confusion in US Kitchens
Another
example of confusion that arises with the use of French in the US kitchen is
the use of the word entree. Entrée in French means “the entrance, the
beginning.” Following on that entrée in France is used for
the first course. In the USA they took the French word entrée and lost the
accent over the ‘é’ and use entree for the main course!
It
is a testament to George Bernard Shaw's observation that “England and America
are "two countries separated by a common language."
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Brochet; Pike, the Fish. Brochet on French Menus.
Button Mushrooms - The Champignon de Paris. The Mushrooms of France I.
Chateaubriand Steak and Chateaubriand the Man. Ordering a Chateaubriand steak in France.
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Jus – Fruit or Vegetable Juice and/or a cooked dish’s natural juices on French Menus.
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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.
Pleurote – The Oyster Mushroom in French cuisine. The Mushrooms of France VI
Romarin - Rosemary, the Herb in French cuisine.
The Cèpe, The Porcini Mushroom, Grows Wild in France. The Mushrooms Of France III.
Tournedos Rossini, after 150 years still the most famous of all steak dishes.
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