Page 79 - Summer2008

Food Feature

ACHIEVING CULINARY SUCCESS WITH GRASS-FED BEEF
by Katherine Czapp

Cattle raised and nished on pasture rep- few beef just for the family and some neighbors
resent a tiny proportion of the beef produced can nevertheless choose a properly proportioned
for the table in the United States. Most grass- Holstein or Jersey from his dairy stock and raise
fed beef producers are family farmers who sell an animal with exceptional meat qualities. It all
their meat directly to customers, consumers who depends on the care of the well-chosen animal
prefer grass-fed animal products for health and for this purpose.

taste reasons (not to mention environmental and Forage will also have a great inuence on
animal welfare concerns) that are obvious when the  avor of the meat, and will produce “stron-
100 percent cattle pasturing is compared to the ger” tasting meat than beef produced from a
industrial, connement feedlot model. concentrated grain diet thanks to the inuences

of the odorous constituents, reactive polyunsatu-
A CHALLENGE FOR THE COOK rated fatty acids and chlorophyll in the variety
As far as the cook is concerned, however, of forage plants. The cow’s rumen transforms
grassfed beef requires understanding another these elements into terpenes—chemicals related
facet of the art of cooking, since by its very nature to compounds in herbs and spices—which subtly
grassfed beef does not reect the same standards  avor the meat and fat, especially in a mature

of uniform production protocols that commercial animal.
feedlots strive to create. The industrial model of Cattle on pasture will naturally take lon-
beef production favors only certain cattle breeds ger to “ nish”—that is, complete growth with
(such as modern Angus and Hereford) that will adequate intramuscular fat (marbling) and reach
produce a lot of meat on a compact body in as the stage for slaughter—which may be from 18
short a period of time as possible, on the least to 30 months (or even more) as compared to as
amount of feed necessary—that is, as cheaply as young as 12 to 18 months on average for feedlot
possible. The subtle qualities of that meat—such animals. Pastured animals will be exercised

as the development of complex avors or its animals, and therefore generally leaner and with

health benets—are overlooked. The industry “tougher” meat because of the greater diameter
requires only that its product taste “beefy,” and in muscle  bers and amount of connective tissue
that as a result of enforced immobility and the their exercise induces their bodies to create. This
short life of the animal it is tender and suitable meat also has the very desirable characteristics

for mostly quick, high-heat cooking methods. of juiciness and deep avor. As Harold McGee
By contrast, there is quite a wide range sums up in On Food and Cooking: “Full- avored
of variety in grassfed beef, which is noticeable meat comes from animals that have led a full
from farm to farm. Broader diversity in any food life. . . Life intensi es  avor, and modern meat
category means more choice for the diner, some- animals are living less and less.”

thing we can be ever thankful for. This variety Animals raised in connement are gener-
is in part due to differences in the cattle breeds, ally slaughtered before reaching adulthood, when
and in particular to the genetics of the cattle on muscle growth slows down (and intramuscular fat Full-flavored
each farm. While certain breeds are more suited starts accumulating at a greater rate). The rapid meat comes
for meat production, such as the older Angus growth of immature animals coupled with little from animals
stock and some of the heritage breeds like the exercise means connective tissue is continually
Galloways, Highlands and Devons, a knowl- being broken down and restructured, rather than that have led
edgeable farmer with a good eye who raises a developing into strong cross-links and sheaths as a full life.

SUMMER 2008 Wise Traditions 77