Poire

A *morceau du boucher* — one of the three small premium muscles on the round historically reserved by French butchers for themselves and their best customers (alongside merlan and araignée). The poire ("pear") is a small pear-shaped, fleshy muscle on the inside of the rear leg, weighing 500–600g per animal — only one per side. Short fibres, fine grain, melt-in-the-mouth tender. Cooked rare or medium-rare in moderate heat (high heat would dry it out), it produces 4–6 perfect *steaks de poire* with a butter-soft texture. Difficult and time-consuming to detail from the carcass — which is exactly why it stayed off retail shelves for decades and into the butcher's own kitchen. Increasingly available at French specialty butchers and chef-driven menus.