Boeuf à la Ficelle

This Parisian recipe first became popular in bistros in the nineteenth century. Tender beef fillet, trussed up with string, is poached in a tasty vegetable broth according to how bloody the guests like their meat. It was a favourite with my French family-in-law. It reminds me of large, boisterous family gatherings and steaming platters of vegetables being passed around the table.

Ask your butcher to truss the meat as if for roasting, leaving a length of string in order to lower it i