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STEAK YOUR PLACE ON THE CULINARY MAP

Over 720 million kilos of red meat are served to British consumers eating out in pubs, restaurants and canteens every year, according to The Meat & Livestock Commission (MLC).

What better opportunity for chefs to get up close and personal with their butcher and negotiate some top notch steak for an altogether meatier menu?

Following the launch of its new HP Steak Sauce, Heinz Foodservice looks at the different cuts and cooking methods, the importance of befriending your supplier and top tips from award-winning butcher Nigel Fredericks. And if you thought a good steak could live without sauce, think again…

Food for thought?

Steak is enjoying a renaissance when it comes to the 3.5bn out of home meals served in the UK every year, partly due to resurgence in demand for meat as old fashioned manliness returns to popular culture.

Although it never strays too far from menus, there has been a definite increase in popularity and since 2004, consumption has grown by 4% (TNS 2006). The backlash of BSE and controversy over the health implications of eating red meat, meanwhile, have abated and 42% of consumers now tuck in more than three times a week (Mintel 2006).

Steak is all about choice, from the quality and type of cut to the way it is cooked and served. Establish yourself with a glowing reputation as the place to sink your teeth into a superior steak prepared to exacting standards, and customers have real food for thought and a reason to return. Ultimately meaning more profits for you.

How to enhance a steak dish generally leaves caterers in a quandary. Sauces on the market tend to blanket the taste of the meat and chefs have no alternative but to prepare from scratch - a dilemma for busy outlets needing to balance quality with efficiency and command their share of a sector worth £27bn (TNS 2006).

Pubs and restaurants, the top two when it comes to eating out (TNS 2006), are particularly under pressure to be competitive and innovate menus in the wake of the smoking ban and subsequent increase in food sales. Want to steak your place?

"In the restaurant business, steak is a flagship product. Always popular, whatever the latest food fashions, a consistently good steak creates satisfied customers and repeat visitors" - Food Chain Centre (FCC)

What is steak?

A steak is a slice from a larger piece of meat, usually beef, cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat. Steaks are typically served grilled, though they can be pan-fried or broiled. Because steaks are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole, the most tender cuts of the animal are usually used.

Beef is graded according to the amount of fat interspersed within the muscle tissue. Known as 'marbling', it appears like the white spots and streaks in marble - the more marbling, the better the meat.

Only certain parts of the carcass are suitable for grilling. A 420kg beef will yield about 32kg of suitable meat and only the least used, large muscles are considered tender enough.

Steak cuts

Fillet - most tender cut with the least flavour from which come the fillet mignon and Chateaubriand. This cut has little natural fat.
Rib eye or rib steak - tender with more flavour
Sirloin - larger and tender
T-bone - T-shaped bone with meat on each side (found right hand side of sirloin)
Rump steak – juicy, full of flavour, least tender

In order of expense:

Fillet

Sirloin / rib eye

Rump

In order of tenderness:

Fillet

Sirloin / rib eye

Rump

In order of flavour:

Rump (holds the most blood)

Rib eye

Sirloin

Fillet (mild)

For adults, allow 280-340g (10-12 oz) per steak and don't cut less than 25mm thick, a thick steak holds the juices in and cooks better.

A good steak cut should be a bright, light red colour with white marbling distributed through the meat. Flecks and lines should be small and fine. The meat should be fine grained, not coarse or variable.

Already cut steaks should already be trimmed except for about 6mm of fat. The fat should be creamy in colour, not grey or yellow. The meat should be moist, but not wet.

Discuss your requirements fully with your butcher as they are likely to stock a great variety of cuts, be able to give advice on preparing and cooking, and tell you where and from which breeds the meat came from, as should farmers' markets and mail-order companies.

Highlighting background information on menus provides an appreciated point of difference – research has shown 51% of consumers would like to see the introduction of a law that requires notification of meat origin in restaurants (MLC).

For organically-raised beef or beef from breeds noted for succulent meat such as Aberdeen Angus, you should be prepared to pay more. Imported beef is cheaper.

How would you like it sir?

Selecting the right cooking method depends on tenderness. Dry heat methods are generally applied for more tender steaks such as fillet mignon and sirloin, while moist heat methods are more suited to tougher cuts of beef. The water helps in tenderizing the steak.

Popular ways to eat steak

'Blue' - when the interior temperature is barely warm
Blood red interior takes us from rare to medium rare
No interior redness indicates internal temperature is in the upper 60'C and you are in the realms of "well done"

Rarely done steaks, briefly seared (sterilized), still maintain their rawness and are very pink in colour. While they maintain the original beefy flavour, be aware they will still contain micro-organisms. As cooking time increases, pinkness is converted to brownness and juiciness is reduced. Well-done steaks are brown throughout and can be tough to chew. For ordinary palates, medium rare steaks are best.

Keeping customers in the picture

Cuts should be stated as the approximate uncooked weight
Check weights and ensure you have written order / invoice showing weight
If you claim beef is from "BSE free herds", obtain written confirmation from supplier

If you claim food is "organic", you should contact Trading Standards for advice

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