TM: Speech 4 - How to Say it

Project 3 for Competent Communication manual is a hard project to tackle. Some masterfully play with meanings, words and figures of speech to vivify an experience for their audience. I don't! I have notebooks of phrases that eloquently convey the meaning. I take them down as I come across them in written or spoken language. But, I rarely use them!

For this project, I consulted with family, my Toastmaster's mentor, and a friend on what topic to talk about. After many brainstorming discussions, talking about a Recipe got the most number of votes. I delivered the speech on April Fool's, Thursday April 1. So take the wrapper text around the cooking tips with a grain of salt. :)

Here is the text for my fourth TM project --How to Say it.

"Welcome to the Fool's edition of our Cooking Show. I am glad that you could join me today because today I have a rare opportunity to bring to you the international recipe for April Fool's day on the day it was discovered.

This one of a kind recipe originated in a small, cute town in France. The French man who first discovered it was a veterinarian called Jacques. On April 1, 1832 Jacques was performing an autopsy on a cow when he accidentally touched the meat around the back rib cage of the animal. It felt so smooth and soft. If it feels so tender when it is raw, imagine how succulent it tastes when it is cooked, he thought. He took a sharp knife cut a thick piece from the tail end of the loin and took it home with him. He stayed up all night, toiling away in his kitchen until he perfected his idea. Jacques discovered one of the most delicious, luxurious, expensive dishes in the world. He called it fool Mignon since it was on April's fool's day that this genius idea came to him. But later the French changed it to a more sophisticated name: fillet Mignon to literally mean thick slice of dainty.

Like flowers on Valentine day, this dish could be quite expensive when dining out on April fool's day, but it is much more reasonable if you make it at home. On that note I would like to share with you a few tips on cooking fillet Mignon at home.

• When selecting tenderloin or fillet Mignon slices choose the lighter colored ones over the dark ones. The lighter the color the more marbling it has which makes the meat more tender.
  
  
• Since the beef has little fat on its surface, it is often wrapped in a bacon or some sort of fat to make it more favorable.
  
  
• Use a dry high heat method of cooking: such as broiling, roasting or grilling.
  
  
• Avoid cutting into the meat to check doneness, because all the juice will ooze out. Use the touch method. Press the meat with two fingers, if it feels soft and mushy and leaves imprints, it is rare. If it is soft but slightly resilient, it is medium rare. The minute it begins to feel firm it is over-done start over again.
  
  
• You can garnish fillet Mignon with garlic, salt, pepper and some rosemary.
  
  
• To match a wine with fillet Mignon look for dry, red wines. The top matches are Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, or Shiraz. don't try all at the same time.
  

With these tips you can make a tasty fillet Mignon at home that is so tender you can cut it with a fork and so juicy that it will melt in your mouth. And since today is the day this recipe was discovered you have a strong motivation to make it today. Try this recipe out today!

Thank you for joining me. I hope you enjoyed this edition of our cooking show and you join me again next week when i make another world renowned, exotic dish simple enough for you to make it at home."