Around the World of Beef in 80 Ways

The menu at David Burke’s Primehouse includes such staples as filet mignon, rib-eye, sirloin, and New York strip. But when asked to name a beef dish that gets his mouth watering, Burke says: “I like what the Koreans do with short ribs. They cut them thin and grill them off. So you’re eating a short rib that’s cooked in two, three minutes. And it’s delicious. It’s very well-marbled near the bone.” And don’t forget the sauce: “It’s got sweetness, it’s got heat, a little vinegar—it helps digest the fatty meat.”

It’s a sign of our place in the world today. The global village now extends to the dinner plate. “I very much think people are more experimental,” says Burke. “Asian cuisine has always been popular, but you’ve got African restaurants opening, you’ve got all kinds. If people want a comforting steak-and-potato meal, of course, that’ll be there. But I think people are trying all kinds of different ethnic foods now.”

THE JEWEL OF JAPAN

That said, the burger is still a perennially popular item. And if you want to talk premium burgers, you might turn your attention to Japan’s Kobe beef—which is exactly what chefs like Daniel Boulud, of New York’s Daniel restaurant, DB Bistro Moderne and other venues, and Hubert Keller of Burger Bar in the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, are doing with their expense-account sandwiches.

When you read “American Kobe” or “Australian Wagyu” on a menu, it’s actually the same breed of cattle found in Kobe, Japan, but raised and processed in the States or Down Under. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less expensive—or decadent. “If you look at the marbling in traditional Kobe beef, it’s more than 50%,” says Stephen Giunta, CMC, culinary director, Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita, KS. In fact, the meat can appear almost white because of the fat interlaced within the tissue itself.

“In some ways, it’s like trying to cook a stick of butter,” Giunta notes. “And so you’ll see a lot of preparations in Japan where they just serve it raw, sliced thin, sashimi-style.”

Burke notes that Kobe should be “eaten in small bites. It’s got to be savored. And it doesn’t need to be killed with sauce. It should have a nice, light balance of sauce—or something on the side. You need salt, pepper, maybe coriander seed here or there. The fat should be the sauce.” (For more on the upscaling of the all-American burger, see "Hamburger Nation.")

A CUT ABOVE

Such luxuries aside, mainstream Americans haven’t yet completely warmed to the wider variety of available meats. But even if patrons would rather order their trusty steaks, at least their tastes in steaks are changing.

Through a muscle-profiling study conducted by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Centennial, CO, the industry has identified and introduced several new beef products. “Through that research,” says Dave Zino, executive director, NCBA Beef and Veal Culinary Center, Chicago, “we ‘discovered’ the flatiron steak, the ranch steak, the petite tender, country-style beef ribs. Through cutting the muscles differently, we’re able to find some great muscles, and some really tender steaks.”