Steak au poivre in most urban areas. Steak au poivre Steak au poivre (, Quebec French pronunciation : ) or pepper steak is a French dish that consists of a steak, traditionally a filet mignon, coated with coarsely cracked peppercorns and then cooked. The peppercorns form a crust on the steak when cooked and provide a pungent but complementary counterpoint to the rich flavor of the high-quality beef. The peppercorn crust itself is made by placing the steak in a bed of cracked black (or mixed) peppercorns. Typically, the steak is seared in a hot skillet with a small amount of butter and
Pierre Poivre Garden−Botanical Garden of Pamplemousses still flourishes, and is now a garden containing tropical plants and trees from other islands in the Indian Ocean, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania. Poivre is also remembered for introducing spice plants to Mauritius and Reunion, such as clove and nutmeg, commodities which at the time were controlled by the Dutch, who had a virtual monopoly on them in the Dutch East Indies. In order to obtain the spices, Poivre arranged clandestine smuggling forays to obtain plants and seeds from the Dutch Spice Islands in 1769-1770. Poivre was also responsible for introducing spice plants to