Beef

Ireland, with it’s lush green pastures, has one of the very best climates anywhere in the world for the production of superb quality beef and as a nation we are very fond of it. Wherever you live, however, make sure you choose a butcher who buys his meat not only for tenderness, but also for flavour. Fillet of beef is really never tough, but it can be virtually tasteless. What you are looking for is a piece of fresh fillet of beef with a really ‘beefy’ flavour. It seems to me that the best-flavoured beef comes from well-reared Aberdeen Angus and Shorthorn. I personally very much regret the growing popularity of the continental breeds, e.g. Limousin and Charollais, which produce leaner meat with less flavour. That, we are told by the powers that be, is what the consumer wants: well, it’s certainly not what I want and I strongly question that it’s what anyone else wants either! We have been brainwashed into believing that meat with any little bit of fat will kill us ‘stone dead’. I doubt that too, but one thing I do know for certain is that meat must have a little bit of fat if it is to have a really good flavour. Cook the meat with the fat on, then leave it to the side of your plate if you don’t want to eat it, but your lean meat will at least taste wonderful.