The Essential Steak GuideWhen it comes to steak - there is a lot to choose from – read our Essential Steak Guide first – unless you want to end up with a pile of raw ground beef topped with a raw egg on your plate. Types: Filet pure / Filet mignon: tenderloin, a small and most tender part of the animal Entre Cote: sirloin – less tender more taste Chateau Briant: Double tenderloin. A bit piece of meat cut on your table. always served for two. Essential Steak Guide WARNING: Steak Americain: This is not a T-Bone! Very popular in Belgium, and also known as filet américain or American Fillet.This is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef or horse meat. It is regarded as a gourmet dish. It is eaten as a main course, typically with toast or fries. The preparation of the meat is either done by the waiter, table-side, or by the customers. Sometimes you can get a fresh green salad in the summer months to add to freshness to the dish. Filet américain is also sold by butchers as a sandwich dressing. It comes either unprepared (raw ground lean beef) or prepared with eggs, seasonings (popular in Belgium). Preparation Raw - Uncooked: Used in dishes like steak tartare and Carpaccio. Blue rare or very rare: (37.8°C/100°F core temp) Cooked very quickly; the outside is seared, but the inside is usually cool and barely cooked. It will be red on the inside and barely warmed. Rare: (48.9°C/120°F core temp) The outside is gray-brown, and the middle is red and slightly warm. Medium rare: (52.2°C/126°F degrees core temp) It will have a fully red, warm center. Unless specified otherwise, upscale steakhouses will generally cook to at least this level. Medium: (57.2°C/135°F degrees core temp) The middle of the steak is hot and red with pink surrounding the center. The outside is gray-brown. Medium well done: (62.8°C/145°F degrees core temp) The meat is light pink surrounding the center. Well done: (73.9°C/160°F degrees core temp) The meat is gray-brown throughout and slightly charred. I have noticed that Belgian chefs tend to undercook meat. Well done is usually still a bit pink in the middle. I guess it has something to to with the general level of comfort with raw meat in Western Europe and the believe that overcooking destroys the integrity of the meat. Speak to your waiter and remember that it’s always better to order it not well done enough and ask to throw it back on the grill if it’s too raw then the other way around. Back from Essential Steak Guide to Steakhouses
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