Small slices taken from the heart of the fillet of beef thin cut and sauteed or grilled and garnished prior to serving.
A tournedos is the centre of a fillet of beef, grilled and served with any number of elaborate sauces or garnishes. The French name of this dish literally means turn the back, deriving from tourner, meaning to turn (as in tourniquet), and dos, meaning back (as in dos-a-dos, a square-dance call that tells the dancers to turn back to back). Many explanations have been offered for the origin of this name. The earliest, dating to 1877 when tournedos first appeared in English, suggests that the dish gets its name because it cooks so quickly that a chef does not have time to turn her back before it must be flipped. A more elaborate story tells of the composer Gioacchino Rossini asking a Parisian maitre d’hdtel to prepare a newfangled beef dish; upon hearing Rossini’s description of the dish, the maitre d’hdtel announced he would be ashamed to bring such a strange, new dish to the table. In response, Rossini facetiously assured the maitre d’hdtel that his guests would spare him any embarrassment by turning their backs to him as he brought them the dish. From then on, so the story goes, the dish was known as tournedos a la Rossini, or simply as tournedos.
A succulent and savory portion of beef, sourced from the tenderloin region, that has been masterfully cut into a premium fillet steak, boasting a juicy and tender texture that is sure to please any meat lover’s palate.