Streekproduct Series
Filet d'Anvers (as it's known throughout Flanders) is a cut of beef silverside, also known as the eye of round. It's an extremely lean cut and rather tough, as it comes from the animal's hind leg – hence the intensive and lengthy preparation.
Filet d’Anvers
While in the past filet d'Anvers could be made with horseflesh, the three recognised producers in Flanders - two in Antwerp and one in Limburg - use beef, with the fillet labelled "ossevlees" - literally "ox meat", though it can come from any bovine animal: steer, cow or bull.
First the meat is lightly pickled, then allowed to dry. It's then salted and allowed to rest before being smoked with beech wood. The whole process can take several weeks and depends on the size of the fillet, according to Louis-Philippe Michielssen of Vleeswaren Michielssen Producten in Schoten, just outside Antwerp. Michielssen has been producing filet d'Anvers since 1969.
The result is a fillet of about 15 cm in diameter and a deep Bordeaux in colour. It's eaten sliced paper-thin as sandwich meat or as part of a charcuterie plate. Our sample came from Keurslager Michielsen, another of the recognised producers (unrelated to the Schoten company).
The finished product is silky smooth, with the buttery feel of a fine Parma or San Daniele ham. There's more depth to the flavour of beef, however, and it doesn't give it all up at once: the taste grows as you chew it.
Personally, I find the flavour is smothered by bread, so I'd recommend eating it by itself. An indulgence, perhaps, but it deserves to be savoured.
Vleeswaren Michielssen also produces another recognised streekproduct, or regional product: Antwerp veal roll, or kalfsrol. Also a thin sandwich meat, it was originally a means of using up the less valued parts of the calf. The product fell out of favour for some time before Michielsen started making it again about 40 years ago.
The roll is made up of cuts of lightly pickled flank meat, or bavette, encasing a mixture of veal and seasoning, decorated in the centre with jewel-like studs of gherkin and filet d'Anvers. The kalfsrol went down better with our child tasters than the more developed and flavourful filet d'Anvers. Superficially similar products are available elsewhere, but Michielsen makes everything in-house, and the craftsmanship shows.
The "streekproduct" label means you're buying a locally made product produced according to traditional methods
