Ahhh... call me a dope. I knew that all that feedlot beef had to go someplace. But what a surprise to put a chunk into my mouth after all these years! It brought back memories...just not good ones.I've mentioned before the feedlots that have sprung up along the sides of some highways heading deep into the province in the last 3 years. I lamented their appearance. I hoped that they would fail with the rising cost of grain and always too expensive imported anti-biotics and growth hormones.
But the cattle always looked bad and standing or lying in their own shit cramped up with hundreds of others... they didn't look like any competition for even the cows across the same road let alone the magnificent black beasts that pranced around our car as we pulled in our maingate. "All is well," I would tell myself as we circled down the drive to the big house through the green pastures past cows and calves.
"What do they DO with that beef?" I asked my wife one time. She didn't know; feedlots didn't exist four years ago. I've been afraid that feedlot beef would supplant traditional grass-fed here.
Just recently I asked her if she would recognize a feedlot steak if she ate one. She said she wasn't sure. She never ate a steak while we lived in Chicago.
Not two months ago, she asked the supermarket butcher/meat-clerk if any of the beef was from feedlots. "Oh, no, señora! That kind of beef is good for only sausages, hamburger and hotdogs!" She was told that there would be no possible way that she could mistake a feedlot steak for a grain-fed steak.
Well, she got fooled tonight... but I didn't.
On her way home tonight, my darling stopped at the big Supermercado Disco and picked up two "Bife Angosto", a short loin or strip loin in English. She ate one right away but I wasn't hungry until later. When I began to make a side of pasta I was surprised to find the lid stuck to the pot I intended to use for my mostaccholes. What's more, there was a pool of fat inside the pot.
I asked her if she had used the pot to cook something. She told me no but then added that she had used the lid as a splatter-guard to cover the skillet in which she had cooked her steak, something she often does.
I'd never seen such fat before from simply pan-frying a steak. I didn't think anything more of it. I cooked my dinner and sat down to enjoy. Bife Angosto is a step below my usual filet mignon or strip but is known for it's great flavor if a bit chewy.
This steak did not exhibit any of the chewiness that all Argentine steaks are famous for. This steak was very oddly tender throughout. Perhaps tender is not the right word... it was mushy. And it was noticeably greasy.
I did not finish it and, even now as I write, I feel kind of queasy. I suppose it is the amount of fat. A grass-fed steak here has about 1/3 the fat of the normal US steak. I usually eat a steak and feel good! I also remember when I first arrived that it was remarkable how I could eat a much larger steak than I could back in the old country. I would definitely attribute that, now, to the lower fat content.
Fat is one thing... I know what fat is and I can choose to eat less. But the drug and hormone addled, bacteria laden life these animals lead is something that I would like to know about before I buy or eat a steak.
The local beef shortage a few months ago may have given feedlots an entre into the prime-cut segment of the market. Argentines hungry for what disappeared from the shelves for a short while might simply be happy enough to have the supply back... and not having ever eaten a feedlot steak may not suspect anything.
It's hard to believe that Argentina would cast off its birthright to great grass-fed beef but it looks like it could go easier than I thought. It can't be long before tourists are served this stuff; they don't know the difference... and it will still be at the same great Buenos Aires price.
5 comments:
You are right about the fat content Yanqui. When making a hamburger I always have to ADD a little oil to the pan, other wise the onions that I cook along side the meat. There is simply not enough fat in the meat here to fry up the onions.
oops i deleted a sentence I should not have!
That is so sad. I have to go back to vegetarianism (I don´t know how to write that word...)
Think about it... You have an idiot/evil American administration pushing "bio-fuel" and that raises grain, and most notably corn, and food prices through the roof, all the while putting a big fat smile on ADM and cronies. Accident? Not on your life.
In the debate over grass versus prison-like-sit-in-their-own-filth feed lots, I'd say that its obvious the grass fed is better for the animal and by extension the human.
My dad, while stationed in the UK in the 50's, told me tales of how they used to get grass fed beef from Ireland and that it was the best thing he and his fellow airmen had ever had. That was until the cattlemen back in the States got wind of this bit o' heaven and the made a hissy-fit complaint to Congress that only US produced (read...lot fed) beef should be sold on those bases. Lo and behold the good stuff was replaced by the cheapest most vile crap on the planet. The difference was immediate. Who says that Americans aren't looking out for their fellow countrymen... of course they are! But only if there is a buck to be made.
It would be a crying criminal shame to see Argentina fall for this garbage.
Hi Mike,
When you say "I'd never seen such fat before from simply pan-frying a steak. " what exactly do you mean by pan-frying? do you use a "flat" frying pan?.
If so, be warned that that´s NOT how we argies cook the stuff. We use a PLANCHA (sorry, don´t know the English translation if there´s one) that is RIVETED and has a grease collecing area around it.
Run, don´t walk to the nearest supermercado and get yourself a "PLANCHA PARA BIFES".
It will look like this one
H*ck you can even order it from an online auction nowadays...
Since I was a kid I have been eatin g bifes and let me tell you that:
1) You must always remove the fat from the bife edges, or at least trim it to the bare minimum, otherwise some of it will melt and ALWAYS end up with the meat
2) You must use a PLANCHA PARA BIFES not a flat surface pan, so the fat doesn't flood the meat, and is collected at the edges of the pan
3) Bifes have "left over" lots of fat collected around the pan since I have memory, and I'm 32 yrs old.
Specially if you didn't do step #1.
4) BIFE ANCHO has 2x more "internal fat" tan bife angosto.
5) What's wrong with a good BIFE CON LOMO? IMHO it's the best. ;)
Although when I want a fatty one with the flavour of a good tira de asado or vacio, I get myself a bife ancho, but only ocassionaly, for the same health concerns as you.
6) There's an association of feedlot producers which is actively campaigning to "grow" their share of the market. Not now, this has been going on for the last four years. There was a TV documentary by Canal 7 journalist Mauro Federico, aired in 2004 I think, about this issue. He even showed the "two camps" of the debate, the producers saying feedlots increase profits and is the next big thing since sliced bread and the folks from INTA (National Institute of Food Technology) saying that cholesterol levels are higher.
Perhaps you could try to find him online and contact him for a copy of the video?. Would make for a great youtube upload (with his permission).
I googled and found this number, see if he still answers there
Mauro Federico 155-451-9455
Best,
FC
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