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Tournedos are basically Tenderloin Steaks, except they are Tenderloin Steaks that are always cut thickly from the centre of the Tenderloin Roast.

Tournedos are very tender, very lean and very expensive medallions of meat. They are usually served with other embellishing ingredients, though, for what nature gave them in tenderness, it held back in flavour and gave that to other parts of the cow.

In North America, you'll often see it sold with a piece of bacon or fat wrapped around it. The fat will be held in place by string or a toothpick.

Similarly, you'll often similar round looking cuts of beef from the sirloin or round called "Tournedos." Strictly speaking, though, the butchers are being very naughty in using this term for anything not from the tenderloin.

A Tournedos will weigh between 5 to 7 oz (150 to 190g), be between 3/4 to 1 inch (2 to 2 1/2 cm) thick and be around 2 to 2 1/2 inches (10 to 11 cm) wide.

Cooking Tips
Cook quickly by pan-frying, grilling or barbequing.

Language Notes
Tournedos is a made-up French word. There are many theories as to how it came about; none of them particularly plausible.

The expression "Tournedos Filet Mignon" is indicative of a restaurant menu writer tripping over himself or herself in an attempt to heap superlative on superlative (Filet Mignons are cut from the small end of the Tenderloin.)

Also called:

See Also:

Filet Mignon, Tenderloin Steak

Other entries for:

Beef Tenderloin
Chateaubriand Roast, Coeur de Filet, Filet Mignon, Tenderloin Steak, Tournedos

Other entries for:

Beef Short Loin
Club Steak, Delmonico Steak, Porterhouse Steak, Shell Roast, Strip Loin Steak, T-Bone Steak

Other entries for:

Beef
Baron of Beef, Beef Brawn, Beef Brisket, Beef Chuck, Beef Cuts Illustrated -- North American, Beef Flank, Beef Leg, Beef Plate, Beef Rib, Beef Roasts, Beef Round, Beef Shank, Beef Sirloin, Beef Steaks, Braising Beef, Bresaola, Chianina Beef, Chipped Beef, Cube Steak, Ground Beef, Kobe Beef, London Broil, Minute Steak, Montreal Smoked Meat, Oxtail Brawn, Oxtails, Pastrami, Pork, Pot Roasts, Salisbury Steak, Steak, Steamship Round, Stewing Beef, Wadschinken, Wagyu Beef

Other entries for:

Meat
Affettati, Buffalo, Cap On / Cap Off, Game, Goat, Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications, Minced Meat, Offal, Paillards, Potted Meats, Poultry, Roasts, Sausages, Sheep, Veal, Venison, Yak