[lbo-talk] good morning my fellow ecosystems

shag carpet bomb shag at cleandraws.com
Fri Apr 17 14:42:43 PDT 2009


At 02:51 PM 4/17/2009, Jordan Hayes wrote:
>Wojtek, off the deep end, writes:
>
>>Try to cook a slab of meat without adding anything to it,
>>even salt, and see how it tastes.
>
>Let's take the advice of an avowed non-meat-eater on this subject, shall we?
>
>One of the best things you can do with any fine specimen of meat is get
>out of its way. The chemical transformation that occurs when trapped fat
>is heated and when surface sugars are carmelized can create some of the
>most interesting flavors I've ever had. Most of what is considered "the
>best steak" out there is a combination of breeding, raising, and ageing:
>the "cooking" involved is best if it is minimal; it's only mediocre meat
>that requires it's flavor to be masked or enhanced. The ultimate
>expression of this concept can be found in the Raw Food Movement, but
>sashimi and tartare have long histories of deliciousness.
>
>We get it: you don't like the taste of meat. But don't try to convince
>those of us who disagree, because you just look like a doof when you try.
>
>/jordan

no shit. it's a stupid comment. i was a professional cook for a while, as was the wasband -- considered a 'chef' in fact working for a restaurant that, at the time, billed itself as an upstate "windows on the world". he was sent to all the finer restaurants in the area, people who'd been trained at the finer european schools, where they, in turn, trained him at his boss's request.

the idea that cooks in finer restaurants -- even in the 80s and 90s -- put seasoning on meat is ridiculous. the whole point, especially for cuts of beef, is that it doesn't need any seasoning at all. not even salt. the ideal, for a chef, is to be able to cook a steak properly without seasoning because those seasonings are thought to ruin the flavor.

I, personally, don't use salt at all b/c of genetic heart disease. i don't put salt on anything. i had to learn to do it in the catering biz, because potato dishes taste like crap without it.... I'd eat it without salt, but most people wouldn't is what i mean.

and then there's shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops, clams, oyster... yum. who needs butter?

salmon? whether sashimi or broiled? who the hell needs any seasoning. I don't even like chicken with seasoning, myself. cook me up some chicken breast, just plain, and i'm fine with that.

i was going to drag out some cookbooks, to show exactly what i mean -- the recipes never call for seasoning aa porterhouse, filet mignon, or even chicken breast. there might be a sauce, but the point is to marry the flavors, not smother them. it's when the meats are of a 'lesser' cut is when flavoring comes in and, even then, it's not so much that they have no flavor, it is that the seasonings are used to tenderize. Certain less cuts of beef, for example, are very flavorful.

the problem, for most people, is that they poke the crap out of the meat while cooking it. poking means that all the juice runs out, drying out the cut, and making it tougher. No poking!



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