Around the World of Beef in 80 Ways

Skirt steak is also gaining converts in the United States, though it’s long had fans south of the border. “Skirt steak should be a big thing,” says Burke. “People eat fajitas all the time and don’t realize that it’s skirt steak.”

Other beef cuts are also waiting in the wings. “What excites me as a chef,” says Zino, “are things like short ribs—the underused cuts that are extremely popular in, say, Asian markets, and that we’re just rediscovering now ... eating shorts ribs is like eating candy.”

Korean-style butterflied short ribs, called kalbi, are “the chuck short rib, so it’s taken from up near the neck of the animal,” says Giunta. Butchers butterfly the meat, winding up with a beef sheet about 8 to 10 in. long with 3½-in. rib bones lining the top.

This might not be the most-convenient application for a quick-serve or fast-casual venue, but a time-pressed restaurant, if unable to recreate the full kalbi experience, can at least import some of its flavor by adapting the typical sauce to other cuts and dishes. “I see that flavor profile being the next Asian barbecue sauce,” Giunta says. Its blend of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pear purée, of all things, “is really hard to describe,” he says. “But it’s sweet, savory, and I think it’s fantastic.”

FREE-RANGING

Chefs would do well to mine the global recipe file when hunting for unsung beef cuts and preparation methods. “Many Americans experience other cultures vicariously through global cuisines,” says Jane Gibson, director of foodservice marketing, NCBA. “By capitalizing on global food trends, America’s chefs can be extraordinarily creative in sourcing authentic ingredients for ethnic dishes to expand our culinary horizons.”

In South America, beef is as much an institution as it is in the States. “South America loves to slow-grill a lot of their beef,” Giunta says. “You’ll see a lot of the variety meats—especially sweetbreads—being slow-grilled in Argentina. They’ll brush on a marinade and slow-grill them for hours. They’ll do kidneys that way, too, and it’s really cool.”

It may, however, not be ready for prime time in the States, which is why the Argentine and Brazilian treatment of the top sirloin cap—a triangular piece of meat also known as a culotte steak—makes a better candidate for American menus. In addition to its intramuscular fat, the culotte steak has a fat “cap” that, Giunta says, “self-bastes the meat while it’s grilling.” He calls the cut “the New York strip of the sirloin. Generally, you’ll see it cooked whole and then sliced against the grain: unbelievable. And then they’ll serve a sauce with it, like a chimichurri, but generally, it’s just salted, peppered and rotisserie-grilled.”