Originally Posted by
PVDProf
Filet ("fil-lay") is usually beef, with the pronunciation referencing the French; fillet ("fill-it") is the dominant use for fish.
I'm afraid you are wrong. 'filet' ("fil-lay") is a pretentious way of pronouncing fillet, the most expensive cut of beef.
International board, you have to be prepared to understand that different countries have different terms for food. It's probably best not to attempt to lecture if you don't get the reference - in the UK, it's called fillet steak
Interestingly, I've found fillet to be pretty bland in the US and nearly always a bit disappointing, so tend to order steaks with a bit more flavour. In the UK, it doesn't seem so bad - different quality of restaurants? Different rearing methods? Perhaps it needs slower growth, less reliance on hormone to actually work? I don't know, but I'll keep ordering fillet over here and avoiding it over there!
I'll choose fillet because I'm not a huge fan of meat fat, so if there is a nice sauce, I have to do less scraping of the sauce to ensure that I amn't going to get a mouthful of nasty fat.