Steak Planet

There is no easier cuisine. Just place the steak on heat and watch over it. Underdone or well done. Some can recognise this without looking and some always do it wrong.

If not mentioned otherwise, steak in English always refers to beef steak. The only difference is whether it comes from veal, baby beef or beef. Other types of steak need to be identified as there are also tuna or scabbard fish steaks.

To make "Bistecca a la fiorentina" you need a large steak with bones, at least two generous inches thick and weighing over one kilogram.

The world is overcrowded with steaks. Almost everywhere there is someone bragging about their special steak which is always just a piece of meat on a grill. But, is it always so. It its elementary simplicity roasting meat has its little secrets and there are differences in the quality of meat, preparation and even the quality of wood or coal used for the fire.

Steaks vary from one country to another. The meat mainly comes from the area where the ribs meet the backbone. The name of the steak is also given by the part and way of cutting. In the USA the terminology differs from region to region, but there is one thing in common. There is a significant tradition of large steaks that is obviously linked to "manhood" and other cowboy myths.

World steaks

If we put aside America, Argentina and classic European steaks, there are two world steaks we cannot forget.

One is the classic fiorentina which had been forbidden for a couple of years due to the Mad Cow Disease (BSE). In fact that madness was primarily a human madness, not cows', as it removed steak, which made many people cry, from Italian restaurants. A funeral was even prepared for the last piece of meat.

Europe came to its senses and recovered from the first wave of madness. The ban on meat with bones from cows over 12 months old was raised to 24 months. That made steak which is best from baby beef between the ages of 16 - 20 months legal again, after a few years of grief and sorrow.

For "Bistecca a la fiorentina" you need a large steak with bones, rampsteak and T-bone steak, as Americans would say. It has to be at least two generous inches thick and weighing over one kilogram. In restaurants they usually weigh about one kilogram to a kilogram and a half. Meat comes from our sweet baby cow between 16 and 20 months old. Preparation is simple, but all simple things hide different kinds of secrets and mystifications.

Some claim that you add salt, pepper and oil before placing the steak on a grill. Forget this straight away!

Even the great chef from the 19th century, Artusi, wrote that if you do that "meat will taste like snuff and fill with disgust". Therefore, just put the steak on a grill. Then again there are stories told about the wood used to make the fire. Let that remain the subject of discussions. One is certain, if you have placed the steak on a grill, just turn it over once and that is all. Do not do anything else. When done add salt and pepper and when you see the salt has stiffened the steak is ready. Serve with a little butter. Bon appetite!

The other important world steak comes from Japan. This once meatless country produces and sells the most expensive beef in the world.

Cows whose steaks are probably the most expensive beef in the world are raised around Kobe. Wagyu cows feed on a special diet with consists of rice, legumes and beer. Apart from this, regular massage is also necessary. In that way meat is fully dappled with fat and it is very important to know that fat gives meat most of its taste and aroma. But how to explain this to an Australian who takes out his boomerang insulted by the prices as a kilogram of meat in his country costs a hundred times less.