Tag Archives: wagyu

The Big B/C

Making Bacon

G’day Tony.

Well, I’m a little stunned. No, I’m mortified.

How can the UN tag what can only be described in every other way a ‘superfood’ as cancer causing? Of course, I’m talking about bacon.

Alright, so they don’t say it actually causes cancer, but the research suggests that it can increase the risk of certain types of cancer. It does make me wonder though. Given our intake of counter-cancer causing foodstuffs like gin and tonic, I wonder whether this still holds true?

I notice you’ve sourced some locally made bacon? There are many local producers here, unsurprisingly. But just to mix things up a little, I’ve started making my own.

It actually pretty simple, though I use a nitrite mix, rather than the traditional salt cure. But that makes it easier to get some flavours into the meat. The last batch had some bourbon and maple syrup and of course some hickory smoke from the smoker box.

The wonderful thing about the web is accessing some really high quality pork belly for purpose. While there is plenty of pork at the local butchers, I’m just not sure of its source. Am now hunting down some old fashion breed with a good mix of meat and fat.

I wonder if I can source some of that elusive Wagyu pork that one might find in Hong Kong?

Happy bacon-ing in the interim.

Daniel

 

 

Medium rare

Cabrolin Estate

Hi Tony,

It’s been a very interesting week. I finished up my last job on Friday (a solid 9.5 years of service) and have this week off before taking up my new, exciting role.

Here I was thinking that I would relax lots, catch up on some reading, spring clean the house and maybe even get out on the bike, despite the nasty weather. Instead I have been running around like a mad-man trying to tick off a long list of “to do’s”. Happily, I’ve managed most.

I was invited to a dinner on Tuesday by Armadale Cellars to look at a new-ish wine label out of the Yarra Valley.

The guys who set up Cabrolin Estate have real jobs and enough cash behind them to do it well. Only small plantings, about 5 acres, means the three of them do most of the viticulture, but most importantly, they have recognised they know nothing about making wine. So, what to do? Simple, engage Mac Forbes, a Yarra Valley guru for many years and the right hand man to the late Dr John Middleton of Mount Mary. In case you haven’t come across Mount Mary, their chardonnay and their cabernet driven Quintet’s are simply brilliant.

So, an interesting philosophy of Cabrolin is to have Mac assist them with every step and not focus on the selling price of their wines. The result? Well, they are only making Cabernet and Shiraz, with some blends, but I have to admit, the booze is really very good. The pricing is far from what you’d pay for a Quintet (>$100, if you can get your hands on some), hovering about $40/bottle-ish. Yes, I may have bought a little. Remind me when you are next here to drag out a bottle.

Another interesting aspect of Tuesday was the restaurant chosen. I’ve never been to Steer Bar & Grill before. After all, how often do I head to a steak house?! Sure, the beef was exquisite (I had a Sher 9+ Wagyu skirt steak done medium rare), but it was the conversation with chef Paul Wilson at the end of the evening that was MOST interesting.

I am now a lot less naïve about Wagyu . We discussed my beef (pardon the pun) about Wagyu burgers. Paul shook his head in dismay and explained how it works. There are only 4 producers of pure bred (9+) Waygu cows in Australia. This means their genetic make up is 95%+ of the pure breds in Japan. But, and here is the rub (pardon the pun), even if the animal is 45% Wagyu, some producers still call it Wagyu. There are any number of growers with “mutts”. Paul agreed that there is no point grinding good beef, Wagyu or not.

Something else I learned from Paul was that the better the grade of Wagyu, the more subtle the flavour. So, despite the hype, those looking for a steak are better off with a dry aged, grass fed Black Angus steak. Bring it!

Given the Sher “tomahawk” steak (2.2kg rib eye) at a lazy $270 which graces his menu from time to time and that he buys almost all of the prime cuts from all the pure bred producers in Australia, it makes me wonder what Wagyu is served by other dining establishments?

Wagyu Tomahawk

This reminds me of the hoopla around beef raised on a well regarded Australian island many years ago. Is it ok to call it “from a certain island” if the animal grew up on the mainland and only lived its last 6 weeks on the island? Is that enough time to change the character of the beef? Or…well, most disturbingly, when the milking cows go off their milk, turning them into beef? Milking cows are not bred for their beef. I understand this practice has long since stopped, but with the hype around the source of the beef nowadays, it makes me wonder.

In the interim, I can heartily recommend Steer. Word of advice, ask your waiter for help choosing a steak, don’t automatically head for the Wagyu. It might not blow your hair back.

Off to Mt Buller tomorrow. Lots of snow, so some skiing, red wine and work, not necessarily in that order.

Cheers,

Daniel

Smoker’s cough

VerdantGreen

Oh, I get it.

With the advent of review sites like Urbanspoon and Yelp (in the US), you open the door to “professional” reviewers and casual diner/reviewers alike. What I don’t get is complaining about a restaurant experience on social media. What happened to speaking to someone at the venue?

On the other hand, raving about the latest place, because, well, it’s the latest place is equally annoying. In Melbourne the trend is for “south of the river” residents to brave the hipsters in the north to “find” that “undiscovered gem”. Really? You do realise the locals had been eating there for the last 12 months. They’re not anymore.

Wagyu. That’s my beef (pardon the pun).

Over the course of the last few years, we have seen a distinct swing to the use of wagyu beef, except at some fast food joints. But, I was under belief that the whole wagyu thing was that is extensively marbled with fat so that it is uber tender. At least that’s what I encountered with steaks in Japan. So, why is it that every pub, restaurant and burger joint (there are too many of these) is spruiking a wagyu burger? Last I checked ground/minced beef was tender, well, because it was ground/minced. Did I miss something?

Call me cynical, but I suspect this is so we can be charged $20+ for a wagyu burger which is comprised all of those cuts of meat which we just don’t really want to know about. I’m probably happier with a burger made from nice meat from any old bovine for half the price.

Ok, so hindsight is a pretty good thing. Should have considered things a little more last night. But it seemed like a damned fine idea at the time.

Rainbow

Take 1 x 750g rainbow trout (sadly it was farmed, not wild), clean, season and place on BBQ (not over heat) with smoker box full of hickory wood chips. Sounds pretty fine, yeah?

Ok, so taking the washing off the line beforehand would have been sensible.

smoked

Despite winter being upon us, I do so like firing the BBQ up drenched in sub-tropical, lush, verdant green foliage. Alright, it currently is a somewhat overgrown jungle.

You’ll be happy to know that the trout was sensational, if I do say so myself. Matched it was a warm middle eastern cous cous salad. Pretty easy, mix some sumac, cumin, ground coriander and fennel seeds with your cous cous and cook per normal. Sprinkle with some goats cheese, pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.

couscoussalad

I know, a healthy meal. Even better with an aged (2009) Petaluma Riesling. So much goodness.