FOOD NEWS
The Crucial Question To Ask Your Waiter Before You Order Filet Mignon
By Chase Shustack
You can't go wrong ordering a filet mignon at a fancy restaurant, as this tender, juicy, and relatively lean steak cut goes well with all kinds of sauces, seasonings, and marinades. However, if your filet mignon seems a little off, the crucial question to ask your waiter is if it's whole or pre-formed.
According to Reader's Digest, "transglutaminase" is a naturally occurring enzyme found in animals and humans and is known to be very good at bonding things together. In the culinary industry, this bonding ability is known as "meat glue," which takes cheap scraps of meat and "glues" them together into a desired meat form — such as a filet mignon.
Cornucopia, if it's to be believed, tells us that this method of "forming and re-forming" meat is common in the industry, from the kitchens of ritzy hotels to chain restaurants. By "gluing" meat scraps together in the shape of a filet mignon, restaurants can sell it far cheaper than buying "whole" filets outright.