Steak Frites

[mark922]

Have I fallen victim to Rich Melman's clever marketing? I had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi last night and my daughter ordered the "Classique" Steak Frites. They also had a filet, strip, etc. on the menu, as well as a hanger steak. The Classique looked for all the world like a hanger steak, yet from the menu I would deduce the two differed.

So...what is the traditional cut for steak frites?

[philadining]

Onglet is the traditional cut. I always thought that was the same as hanger steak, but perhaps it's butchered a bit differently?

[TarteTatin]

I always see the word "Entrecote" on menus. I think it's fatty and thin...not really sure...thought it was the same as a Hangar steak.

[JayBassin]

I always see the word "Entrecote" on menus. I think it's fatty and thin...not really sure...thought it was the same as a Hangar steak.

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Entrecote is a boneless ribeye steak.

[mark922]

Onglet  is the traditional cut. I always thought that was the same as hanger steak, but perhaps it's butchered a bit differently?

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I, too, have always thought onglet was French for hanger steak.

[Malawry]

In Paris last year, I noticed a lot of places served rump steak as the steak with their steak frites. I personally prefer onglet/hanger (yes, they are the same), but onglet is pretty much my favorite cut of beef period...best flavor/texture tradeoff of all the cuts.

[Busboy]

I believe the "classic" steak frites is made with the rump steak, and that onglet more recent trend -- since Americans don't think rump is particularly appealing. My fave local bistro, btw, differentiates between the two, offering both a steak-frites and an onglet.

[Daniel Rogov]

I cannot speak to what cuts are used in North America but the onglet or hanger steak (they are synonymous) is probably better known in France than in North America and in France is only rarely used for steak-frites as onglet is usually used for boeuf hache (chopped beef ) or marinated before grilling . The cut most often served with steak-frites in France is entrecote, that varying in quality from the shoe-leather variety with hard, yellow fat to the truly succulent depending on where you find it.

From the technical point of view, entrecote (literally "between the ribs") refers to steaks cut from between the ninth and eleventh ribs while the onglet is that portion of the diaphgram that hangs between the last rib and the loin.

[Chris Amirault]

Onglet/hanger and entrecote, sure. But rump steak? I'm confused. I've only had that as a roast, not as a steak.