Steak Discovery

Copyright (c) 2013 Eli Gali

I remember the summer of my culinary discovery like as if it was yesterday. I was in my early twenties living in a small city in West Texas. I didn't have a lot of money and hadn't really discovered the finer things in life yet. It was also the summer that the Food Network began turning regular chefs into superstars. Emeril Lagasse's show was on every day and his 'Bam' tagline had suddenly become mainstream. Wolfgang Puck, the chef to the Hollywood stars, was also becoming a household name. It seemed like everyone from that point on had become a 'foodie' and I was beginning to be one of them. Chefs Emeril and Wolfgang had made being in the kitchen and learning everything there was to know about food cool.

I always liked food, but with all this new knowledge I learned to love it, especially when it came to my all time favorite: steaks. My culinary journey really began when I discovered that the USDA had a grading system. The USDA's grading system was established in the 1920s to ensure a uniform quality in the sales and marketing of beef. Basically, not all beef is created equal so this system enabled consumers to know what they were buying.

Grades are based on the amount of marbling in the meat and the age of the animal. The streaks and flecks of white fat that are dispersed throughout the meat is the marbling. Usually, the greater the amount of marbling in the meat, the more tender, juicy and flavor-able it will be, but it also means that it'll probably be more expensive. In addition, cattle that is between 18 and 24 months old also is considered best. The USDA recognizes eight different grades of beef, but only the top three (Select, Choice and Prime) are sold in supermarkets. Anything less than Select is considered by many to be unacceptable and unpalatable, but quite honestly, after tasting the better grades (Choice and Prime), Select meats aren't very tasty. In order for a Select cut of meat to be tolerable to my now sophisticated palate, it really needs to be pounded into tenderizing submission. There is a stark difference between Select and Choice. Choice grade beef has a lot more marbling than Select. It has less marbling than Prime, but is still of very high quality. Choice is the most popular grade of beef because it contains sufficient marbling for taste and tenderness and costs less than Prime. My favorite of them all is of course Prime. It has the most marbling, is generally sold to the finer restaurants and is the most expensive. Only 3% of all the beef graded in the US is Prime.

So is Prime worth the money? In short, yes! Just as large of a difference between Select and Choice is, so is the difference between Choice and Prime. Prime is unbelievably juicy and tender and when cooked properly, it'll just melt in your mouth. Yes it's expensive, Prime steakhouses around the country charge upwards of $50 for a 12 oz filet, but their cooking expertise is unmistakable and completely worth it from time to time. On that special fine dining occasion be sure to pair your Prime steak with a nice glass of wine and some delicious sides and you'll have a meal that's worthy of king. Once you've tried Prime, you'll never want to go back.

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