flipTournedos Rossini
Tournedos Rossini
Why this dish? A regular at the Paris Opéra and artist circles, Gautier lived in the Paris of fine suppers. This dish, which legend attributes to the composer Rossini—a social celebrity of those years—embodies the gourmet luxury of tables where one reshaped the world after the show.
A pan-seared beef fillet medallion, set on a golden crouton, crowned with a slice of seared foie gras and a slice of black truffle, all napped with a Madeira sauce. The pinnacle of bourgeois and romantic cuisine.
Ah! Supper, when the chandeliers of the Opéra go out and the mind, still intoxicated with music, demands its share of splendor! On the crouton golden like a sequin, I place the rare fillet, then the trembling foie gras, and I crown it all with a round of black truffle like a medal. Let them pour me a finger of Madeira over this architecture, and I tell you: it is poetry that one eats. Beauty, you see, does not have to be useful—it suffices to be beautiful, even on a plate.
- •Beef fillet — two fine medallions (centerpiece)
- •Fresh foie gras — two slices (luxury garnish)
- •Black truffle — a few slices (noble flavor)
- •White bread — two rounds (crisp base)
- •Madeira wine — a glass (sauce)
- •Butter — a good knob (cooking and binding)
Tournedos Rossini
A pan-seared beef fillet medallion, set on a golden crouton, crowned with a slice of seared foie gras and a slice of black truffle, all napped with a Madeira sauce. The pinnacle of bourgeois and romantic cuisine.
Why this dish? A regular at the Paris Opéra and artist circles, Gautier lived in the Paris of fine suppers. This dish, which legend attributes to the composer Rossini—a social celebrity of those years—embodies the gourmet luxury of tables where one reshaped the world after the show.
Ah! Supper, when the chandeliers of the Opéra go out and the mind, still intoxicated with music, demands its share of splendor! On the crouton golden like a sequin, I place the rare fillet, then the trembling foie gras, and I crown it all with a round of black truffle like a medal. Let them pour me a finger of Madeira over this architecture, and I tell you: it is poetry that one eats. Beauty, you see, does not have to be useful—it suffices to be beautiful, even on a plate.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef fillet — two fine medallions (centerpiece)
- Fresh foie gras — two slices (luxury garnish)
- Black truffle — a few slices (noble flavor)
- White bread — two rounds (crisp base)
- Madeira wine — a glass (sauce)
- Butter — a good knob (cooking and binding)
Ingredients
- Beef fillet tournedos — 2 (180 g each) (centerpiece)
- Fresh foie gras slices — 2 (50 g each) (luxury garnish)
- Black truffle — 4 slices (or truffle juice) (noble flavor)
- White bread — 2 rounds cut with a cookie cutter (crisp base)
- Madeira wine — 10 cl (sauce)
- Veal stock — 10 cl (body of the sauce)
- Butter — 40 g (cooking and binding)
Method
- Brown the bread rounds in a little butter, keep warm.
- Sear the tournedos in foaming butter, 2 to 3 min per side for rare; season with salt and pepper, keep warm.
- In the same very hot pan, quickly sear the foie gras slices, 30 seconds per side; set aside.
- Deglaze the pan with Madeira, add the veal stock, reduce by half, then mount with cold butter for a napping sauce.
- Plate: crouton, tournedos, foie gras slice, truffle slices.
- Nap with a cordon of Madeira sauce and serve immediately.
How it was made : In the 19th century, the great Parisian restaurants (Café Anglais, Maison Dorée) invented modern haute cuisine. Truffle and foie gras, products of the Southwest, became markers of luxury on Parisian tables, and dishes 'à la' (à la Rossini, à la Talleyrand) bore the names of celebrities one wished to honor.
The contemporary twist : A reduction of Madeira gelled into pearls placed alongside, and the truffle grated at the last moment under a cloche to release the aroma in front of the guest.
Théophile Gautier · Charactorium
