Rinderfilet mit Rotweinsauce

The story

Rinderfilet, beef tenderloin, is the most expensive and most tender cut of beef. The muscle lies just behind the ribs and does little work, so it stays lean and fine-grained, and it makes up only about two percent of the animal, which explains its price at the butcher counter. It is also called Lende or Lungenbraten. From it come filet steaks, the medallions called tournedos and the meat for tartare. The home method in German recipes is short and exact: sear thick steaks in very hot clarified butter for a few minutes on each side, wrap them, let them rest in a low oven, and build a sauce in the same pan from onion or shallots, red wine and stock. The food magazine Lecker pairs it with potato gratin and green beans. Valentine's Day itself is a postwar arrival in Germany. British and American soldiers are believed to have brought it, the first Valentine's ball is said to have been held in Nuremberg in 1950, and flowers and sweets remain the usual gifts. Serve the steaks with mashed potatoes or a small gratin and a glass of the same wine that went into the sauce.