Features

Meat

The hungry man’s manual

By RUTH TOBIAS | August 18, 2006

We may scream for ice cream and go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but we beat our breasts for meat, the source of perhaps our most primitive cravings. That goes double for you guys — hard-wired (and hard-bodied) as you are to relish the hunt, to harbor a bloodlust for your prey (which might otherwise become predator). But in a city as uber-civilized, health-conscious, and cramped as ours —where the buffalo don’t roam (but the veggie activists do) and even space for a proper grill is scarce — well, it’s hard out here for a carnivore. With this compilation of tips from local meat mavens, we’re just trying to make it all a little easier.

Ordering it: from butcher shops to chop-houses

Grill 23's Jay Murray

"When people come to a steak house," says Ruth’s Chris Steak House GM Domenic D’Olimpio, "the first thing they’re going to look at is the filet. " He’s right: loin cuts are no-brainers. Your filet mignons, your T-bones, your New York strips — these are the most tender (and among the leanest) cuts, hence the easiest to prepare: the less you mess with them, the better. According to butcher Ron Savenor of Beacon Hill (and now Cambridge) institution Savenor’s, you should place your order with just two key factors in mind. The first is bright-red color. That indicates the meat is fresh, freshly cut. Beyond that, probably the most important thing is the marbling, which dictates how well it’s going to eat. That’s the oleaginous unsaturated fat. Contrary to what the world believes, that’s actually the good cholesterol. People see marbling and they think, ‘Oh, that’s terrible,’ and it’s not. "

But wait. If the loins are so lean, won’t they have less marbling? Bingo, beef-brainiac. Tenderness, though a virtue in itself, is not synonymous with flavor. In fact, among the threads that run through our conversations with the experts, one of the most common concerns the merits of humbler cuts. Says Savenor, "People come in and say, ‘I only eat sirloin,’ or ‘I only eat tenderloin.’ My advice is, try different cuts and different recipes."

Jay Murray, executive chef at Grill 23, blames industry conglomerates for the loin bias —which it has been in their best interest to shape through marketing. After all, lesser-known cuts "require more effort to produce. If they want to process 600 heads of cattle a day, they can’t be cutting you flatiron steaks." And those happen to be favorites of Murray’s: "It’s probably the most flavorful or second most flavorful steak in the entire animal. We were trying some here one night and I thought, ‘What is that flavor?’ And then I realized it tasted like squab. It was gamey but sweet; it wasn’t livery. Of course, sometimes I just want a fatty taste explosion, and then I go for the skirt steak. With every bite you just want to sit back and go, ‘Uhh.’ "

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Bonfire, Park Plaza Hotel, 50 Park Plaza, Boston,617.262.3473; www.toddenglish.com

East Coast Grill & Raw Bar, 1271 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, 617.491.6568; www.eastcoastgrill.net

Grill 23, 161 Berkeley Street, Boston,617.542.2255; www.grill23.com

John Dewar & Co., 753 Beacon Street, Newton,617.964.3577; www.johndewarinc.com

Metropolitan Club, 1210 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, 617.731.0600; www.metclubandbar.com

Morton’s, The Steakhouse, 699 Boylston Street,Boston, 617.266.5858; www.mortons.com

The Palm,Westin Copley Place, 200 DartmouthStreet, Boston, 617.867.9292; www.thepalm.com

Ruth’s Chris Steak House, 45 School Street,Boston, 617.742.8401; www.ruthschris.com

Savenor’s Market, 160 Charles Street, Boston,617.723.MEAT; 92 Kirkland Street, Cambridge,617.576.MEAT; www.savenorsmarket.com

Smith & Wollensky, 101 Arlington Street, Boston,617.423.1112; www.smithandwollensky.com

Tremont 647, 647 Tremont Street, Boston,617.266.4600; www.tremont647.com

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