No. 1458

Tenderloin of Beef a la Royal—Whole

Filet de Boeuf a la Royale--Entier

Prepare tenderloin as described a l'Ambassade in No. 1441; lard the interior with pork, ham and truffles, each cut into lardings three-eighths of an inch square. When the fillet is cooked, drain the gravy, skim off the fat, and set it into another saucepan with some broken game bones; simmer for one hour, then strain and add to it its equal quantity of espagnole (No. 414); reduce this sauce to proper consistency, being careful to remove all the grease and scum arising to the surface; put aside a third part of it, and add to the two-thirds remaining some grooved or turned mushrooms (No. 118); forcemeat quenelles round-shape and truffles cut olive-shaped. Pare and glaze the tenderloin, and dress it on a rice foundation; place the garnishing around in clusters and decorate the tenderloin with five skewers, made of cocks'-combs and truffles. Sauté a little minced raw ham in butter, moisten with a gill of Madeira wine and the third part of the gravy kept back from the rest; boil, skim, drain through a sieve and serve in a separate sauce-boat.

← No. 1457 Tenderloin of Beef a la Rothschild—While Beef No. 1459 Tenderloin of Beef a la Solohub—Whole →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a set-piece from a professional kitchen that assumed a standing brown sauce, a larder of truffles and cocks'-combs, and a brigade to assemble it. The cooking of the beef is the easy part; the recipe is really a garnish and sauce plan.

It depends on another recipeThe beef itself is cooked "as described à l'Ambassade in No. 1441" — you need that entry for the actual method. Ranhofer wrote in cross-references throughout The Epicurean, and single pages like this one are fragments of a system.
Larding the interiorLardons three-eighths of an inch square of pork, ham and truffle are driven through the interior of the meat with a larding needle rather than laid on the surface. A whole tenderloin takes this well; the pork fat bastes the lean centre from within.
DonenessLarded fillets of this period were probably taken further than we would now serve, though the recipe gives no doneness cue. A trimmed whole tenderloin is at its best pulled at 125–130°F internal for medium-rare and rested; beyond about 140°F the centre goes grey and dry no matter how much fat you have threaded through it.
A gillHalf a cup, four fluid ounces. That is the Madeira for the separate ham sauce.
Espagnole, No. 414Ranhofer's espagnole is a long-cooked brown sauce built on brown stock thickened with roux. A good reduced demi-glace or a well-made brown veal stock reduced to nappe consistency stands in; the recipe's instruction to remove all grease and scum is what gives the sauce its clarity, and it is not optional.
Game bonesThe pan gravy is fortified by simmering an hour with broken game bones; the recipe does not specify which game. Roasted poultry or duck bones give something in the same direction if game is unavailable.
Cocks'-combs and hâteletsThe five "skewers" are hâtelets: ornamental silver skewers threaded with garnish and stood upright in the meat for display, then removed at carving. Cocks'-combs required blanching, peeling and poaching, and are effectively unobtainable now; the skewers can be dropped without touching the dish's substance.
The rice foundationA socle — a moulded plinth of stiff cooked rice on which the fillet is dressed so it sits above the platter. It is structural and decorative, not eaten. A carved bread croustade or simply a warmed platter does the same job today.
Quenelles and turned mushroomsThe quenelles are poached forcemeat dumplings shaped round with two spoons; the mushrooms are fluted by hand with a paring knife. Both are made ahead and warmed in a little of the sauce so they are not cooked twice.
YieldA whole trimmed tenderloin is roughly 4–5 lb and serves eight to ten with this weight of garnish.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and it is written for cooks who already worked in a kitchen like his. The suffix à la Royale was one of the standard classical garnish names of the period rather than a reference to any particular monarch, and in French practice it generally signalled quenelles, mushrooms and truffles. The elaborate finish is often said to descend from an older style of table display, where a dish came to the table as a display piece: the rice socle, the fluted mushrooms, the truffles turned to the shape of olives and the five ornamental skewers all existed to be seen from across the dining room before anything was carved. Escoffier's generation, working a decade or two later, pared exactly this kind of presentation back. What remains entirely usable is the sauce logic: pan gravy fortified with game bones, married to an equal quantity of espagnole, with a third held back and finished separately with ham and Madeira so the plate carries two related but distinct brown sauces.