A fillet or filet ( , ; French
loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
, ) is a boneless portion of
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
(including
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
) cut from an animal. A cut or slice of meat is often a prime ingredient in many
cuisines, and many
dishes call for a specific type of fillet as one of the ingredients.
Meat
Beef
In the case of
beef, the term most often refers to
beef tenderloin in the United States, especially
filet mignon.
Chicken
Chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
fillets, sometimes called inner fillets, are a specific cut of meat from the
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
steaks. There are two fillets in a chicken, and they are each a few centimetres long and about or less wide. They lie under the main portion of the breast just above the ribcage around the center of the
sternum. They are separated from the main breast by filament.
Chicken filets are very popular in
supermarkets in many countries. They can come attached to the main breast itself or separated from the breast in packages of generally four or more filets.
File:Kycklingfilé.jpg, Raw chicken fillets
File:Schweinefilet-1.jpg, Filet of pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...
Fish
In preparation for filleting, the
scales on the fish should be removed. The contents of the abdominal cavity (guts and other organs) also need careful detaching from the fillet.
Fish fillets are generally obtained by slicing parallel to the spine, rather than perpendicular to the spine. Cuts of fish performed perpendicular to the spine are known as
steak
A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce.
Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...
s or
cutlets, and often include bone. The remaining bones with the attached flesh is called the "frame", and is often used to make
fish stock. As opposed to whole fish or
fish steaks, fillets do not contain the fish's backbone; they yield less flesh, but are easier to eat.
Special cut fillets are taken from solid large blocks; these include a "natural" cut fillet, wedge, rhombus or tail shape. Fillets may be skinless or have skin on; pinbones may or may not be removed.
A fletch is a large boneless fillet of
halibut,
swordfish or
tuna.
There are several ways to cut a fish fillet:
* ''Cutlet''
** This fillet is obtained by slicing from behind the head of the fish, round the belly and tapering towards the tail. The fish is then turned and the process repeated on the other side to produce a double fillet.
* ''Single''
** This fillet is more complex than the cutlet and produces two separate fillets, one from each side of the fish.
* ''"J" Cut''
** This fillet is produced in the same way as a single fillet but the pin bones are removed by cutting a "J" shape from the fillet.
File:Hake fillet.jpg, Filleting hake
File:Oroshi hocho knives.jpg, Japanese utensils used to fillet large tuna
File:Salting Fish (1878) - TIMEA.jpg, Two men filleting and salting fish, 1878
File:Fish processing hg.jpg, Automatic knives for filleting fish
See also
*
Fish fillet processor
References
{{Meat
Cuts of meat
Fish processing
Culinary terminology