Chef Juliette
Châteaubriand, Fillet Steak, Tournedos
One tenderloin heart, three classical portions: roast Châteaubriand for carving, bifteck de filet for one, tournedos two to a plate, all with braised endives and a red-wine pan jus.
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Tournedos Roumanille
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1127, Tournedos Roumanille, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Small tournedos seared fast in butter, set on grilled tomato, glazed with Mornay, and crowned with olive and anchovy beside crisp aubergine: a composed dish won by timing, not fuss.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Date Night
35 min
Active Time
30 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Tournedos Roumanille (small beef medallions with Mornay, tomato, olive, anchovy, and crisp aubergine) teaches orchestration. The beef is in the pan for barely minutes, so know this before touching it: every tomato must be grilled, every olive poached, every anchovy shaped, every aubergine round crisp, and the Mornay warm before the butter foams. Sear first and organize afterward, and the tournedos waits while its tenderness walks out the door.
The source entry assumed a saucier on staff, a stockpot never off the fire, finished Mornay ready for service, and a salamander fierce enough to glaze the platter in seconds. At home, you need a small saucepan of prepared Mornay, a hot broiler, and a thermometer. Separate sauce and garnish stations are brigade scaffolding and can go; the grilled tomato base, quick butter sear, Mornay glaze, olive and anchovy crown, and crisp aubergine are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The entry leaves the olive stuffing to the kitchen. A large pimiento-stuffed queen olive is the honest household equivalent to making four thimblefuls of a separate farce, and it preserves the specified stuffed, poached garnish without turning supper into an exercise in pomp. Have the platter assembled and the broiler fully hot before seasoning the beef. The timing is the dish.
Tournedos Roumanille belongs to the named-garnish vocabulary of the French grand kitchen, not to the farmhouse repertoire of Provence. Its tomato, aubergine, olive, and anchovy point precisely toward the Provençal larder, while the Mornay glaze and circular presentation show the dish's passage into formal service. The name salutes Joseph Roumanille, the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence poet who helped found the Félibrige in defense of Provençal language, so the garnish is a culinary portrait rather than an old village beef custom.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
center-cut beef tenderloin tournedos
Quantity
4 (about 14 oz / 400 g total; 3 1/2 oz / 100 g each)
cut about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick
ripe but firm tomatoes
Quantity
2 medium (about 12 oz / 340 g total)
halved crosswise
prepared Mornay sauce
Quantity
3/4 cup (180 ml / 190 g)
pimiento-stuffed green queen olives
Quantity
4 large (about 1 1/2 oz / 40 g total)
oil-packed anchovy fillets
Quantity
4 fillets (about 1/2 oz / 16 g total)
drained
aubergine
Quantity
1 medium (about 12 oz / 340 g)
sliced into 1/4-inch (6 mm) roundels
plain flour
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 60 g)
for dredging
refined olive oil
Quantity
1 1/4 cups (300 ml / 275 g)
for shallow-frying
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
3/4 teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g)
divided
water
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
for poaching the olives and adjusting the sauce
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| center-cut beef tenderloin tournedoscut about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick | 4 (about 14 oz / 400 g total; 3 1/2 oz / 100 g each) |
| ripe but firm tomatoeshalved crosswise | 2 medium (about 12 oz / 340 g total) |
| prepared Mornay sauce | 3/4 cup (180 ml / 190 g) |
| pimiento-stuffed green queen olives | 4 large (about 1 1/2 oz / 40 g total) |
| oil-packed anchovy filletsdrained | 4 fillets (about 1/2 oz / 16 g total) |
| auberginesliced into 1/4-inch (6 mm) roundels | 1 medium (about 12 oz / 340 g) |
| plain flourfor dredging | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 60 g) |
| refined olive oilfor shallow-frying | 1 1/4 cups (300 ml / 275 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| freshly ground black pepperdivided | 3/4 teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g) |
| waterfor poaching the olives and adjusting the sauce | 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet for the tournedos
- •10-inch (25 cm) skillet for shallow-frying
- •Ridged grill pan or heavy skillet
- •Small saucepan for the Mornay
- •Broiler-safe round serving platter
- •Wire rack and rimmed sheet pan
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Set the service
Position a rack about 6 inches (15 cm) beneath the broiler and set a broiler-safe round platter nearby. Put a wire rack over a sheet pan for the aubergine. Warm the prepared Mornay sauce over the lowest heat until it reaches nappe, a coating consistency: it should fall from the spoon in a broad ribbon and cling without running clear at the edges. If it is too thick, whisk in hot water a teaspoon at a time; if it is loose, let it barely bubble while stirring until it tightens. Ça se rattrape. Cover and hold it warm off direct heat.
Cold Mornay takes too long to glaze and overcooks the small tournedos beneath it. Warm sauce and a fully heated broiler give you colour in seconds. - 2
Poach the olives
Bring the water to a bare simmer in a small saucepan. Lower in the stuffed olives and poach them gently for 2 minutes, just long enough to warm and soften their surface without loosening the filling. Drain them well. Curve each anchovy fillet into a loose ring and keep both garnishes ready beside the platter.
- 3
Grill the tomatoes
Heat a ridged grill pan or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Wipe it with a thin film of the measured frying oil, then season the tomato halves lightly with salt and pepper. Grill them cut-side down for 2 to 3 minutes, until marked and softened at the surface but still firm enough to carry the beef. Turn them for 30 seconds, then arrange the four halves cut-side up in a circle on the broiler-safe platter. If they release much juice, blot the cut surfaces gently; a wet tomato lets the tournedos slide.
- 4
Fry the aubergine
Season the aubergine roundels on both sides with part of the remaining salt and pepper, then dredge them lightly in the flour and shake off every excess. Heat the refined olive oil in a wide skillet to 350°F (180°C). Fry in uncrowded batches until deep gold and crisp at the edges, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes per side, then drain on the wire rack and leave uncovered. If the first batch bends limply, the oil was too cool. Raise the heat and return those pieces for another 20 to 30 seconds; ça se rattrape. Hold the roundels on the rack while you cook the beef.
Paper traps moisture beneath fried aubergine. A rack keeps air moving around both sides, which is how the central heap stays crisp. - 5
Sear the tournedos
Pat the tournedos thoroughly dry and season them with the remaining salt and pepper only now. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until very hot, then add 2 tablespoons of the butter. As soon as the foam subsides, lay in the beef with room between each piece. Sear without moving for about 90 seconds, turn, add the remaining butter, and cook the second side for 60 to 90 seconds while spooning the foaming butter over the tops. Brown the narrow edges briefly. Aim for 115 to 118°F (46 to 48°C) at the centre, since the broiler will finish the cooking. If the butter turns black or smells bitter before the beef colours, lift out the tournedos, wipe the pan carefully, add the reserved butter, and continue. Never apologize at your own table. Fix the fat and keep cooking.
- 6
Glaze with Mornay
Set one tournedos on the cut face of each grilled tomato. Spoon the warm Mornay over the beef, coating each crown and allowing only a narrow curtain down the sides. Slide the platter beneath the fully heated broiler and glaze for 45 to 90 seconds, until the sauce swells slightly and takes small golden-brown freckles. Do not walk away. Pull the platter as soon as the colour appears; the finished beef should register about 125 to 130°F (52 to 54°C) for medium-rare.
- 7
Crown and serve
Stand one poached stuffed olive in the centre of each glazed tournedos and encircle its base with an anchovy fillet. Arrange the crisp aubergine roundels in a generous heap at the centre of the platter, keeping them clear of the sauce. The short transfer and glazing were all the rest these small medallions require. Carry the whole composition to the table immediately. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for four compact centre-cut tenderloin medallions of equal thickness, smaller than ordinary tournedos. Equal pieces cook together and sit securely on the tomato halves; large steaks overwhelm the composition the source intended.
- •The Mornay must be a finished sauce made with real butter and dairy, thick enough to cling before it reaches the broiler. A thin sauce runs onto the tomato and cannot form the quick golden glaze that defines the dish. We don't apologize for butter.
- •The source specifies a stuffed olive without naming its filling. A pimiento-stuffed queen olive gives the home cook a large, neat garnish that survives poaching. Taste the anchovies before using them, and rinse salt-packed fillets if they are aggressively salty.
- •Pour a red Bandol or another structured Provençal red with enough freshness for the tomato and anchovy. Serve the tournedos as written, with the aubergine in the centre; it needs no second rich side.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the Mornay up to 2 days ahead and chill it covered. Reheat it very gently, stirring often, and restore its nappe consistency with a teaspoon or two of hot water if it has tightened.
- •The olives may be poached and the anchovies shaped up to 4 hours ahead, then covered and chilled separately. Bring the olives back toward room temperature before assembling.
- •Slice the tomatoes and aubergine earlier in the day, but keep them covered and separate. Season and flour the aubergine only when the frying oil is hot, since early seasoning draws out water and spoils the crust.
- •Do not assemble the finished platter ahead. The tournedos continue cooking beneath the Mornay, and the aubergine loses its crispness beside the sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
570 calories
Total Fat
43 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
27 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
1400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
20 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
28 g
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