Filet Mignon

Seasonality: january, february, march, april, may, june, july, august, september, opctober, november, december

Choosing: The tenderloin (not to be confused with the short loin) is sometimes sold whole. The same cut of beef can also be called:
French: filet de bœuf.
English (US): medallions, tenderloin steak.
English (UK & Ireland): fillet steak.
English (Australia): eye fillet.

Porterhouse steaks and T-bone steaks are large cuts which include the fillet. The small medallion on one side of the bone is the fillet, and the long strip of meat on the other side of the bone is the strip steak—in Commonwealth of Nations usage, only the strip steak is called the porterhouse.If the small forward end of the tenderloin is cut into portions before cooking, that portion is known as filet mignon, or the fillet, from the French boneless meat (mignon meaning "small" as true mignons are cut from the smaller tail end of the tenderloin). In contrast American butchers tend to call all tenderloin steaks filets mignons.

Buying: It is possible to have kosher beef filet mignon, but it is rare and expensive. This is due to the fact that there are non-kosher fats (cheilev) and the sciatic nerve (gid hanosheh) in the hindquarters of domestic cattle which must be carefully removed (nikkur). This is generally uneconomical and as a result the entire hindquarters are usually sold to the non-kosher market. However, properly-prepared filet mignon can be found in modern Israel, where there is a small industry of people trained and willing to conduct commercial nikkur.