Looking beyond the fillet

The Scottish Farmer April 19th 2008  (In association with Quality Meat Scotland)

Using old-fashioned cuts in new ways

SHOWING MICHELIN starred chefs how to prepare brisket may, at first, appear unusual. However, to quote the words of the song - 'It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.'

This was the message delivered to chefs at the Scotch Beef Masterclass, held in Birmingham last week.

As prices of raw materials begin to bite and cattle prices go closer to the ex-farm prices achieved 20 years ago, the message for chefs was that they too should turn the clock back and look at using old-fashioned cuts in new ways and move away from a dependency on fillets, striploins and rib eyes.

These are today's perceived quality cuts, but they comprise less than 10% of the carcase and because of the way in which current prices are structured, they are an expensive core ingredient for many restaurant dishes.

From the point of view of the chef and their ability to demonstrate individuality and skills, they are also less challenging and if served with a sauce, the temptation may well be to try and reduce price and to look at imported products. Traditional suckler-bred Scotch Beef is a different product, and we would be unwise try to compete on this playing field.

The reality is that there is a difference between beef and good beef, it takes time to create good beef and every piece of that carcase is high quality, not just the fillet and the other so called prime cuts.

The fillet makes up approximately 1.25% of the average carcase weight but can now represent over 15% of the value. The same care and attention, the same breeding and feeding regimes have gone into the whole carcase. The fillet is not an exception, it is more tender only because it does less work!

To redress this balance, and utilise more of the carcase, which is a dilemma for all butchers and in particular catering butchers. This is where the skill of the butcher and the skill of the chef can complement the skill of the farmer and make the most of the beef he has produced.

The assembled chefs learned how each individual muscle is unique and only by isolating them it is possible to achieve consistency. This may take more of the butchers' time, but it delivers a product which meets chefs' need for uniform size, shape, texture and price along with the consumers need for lean, tender, affordable meat.

By using cuts from the forequarter, which in normal outdoor reared cattle do more work and therefore have more defined muscle structure, chefs were shown how to create dishes suitable both simple meals and Michelin standard creations.

Steaking cuts and paves were created from heel, blade and shoulder muscles and the traditional rib was dissected to give individual muscles, which like the others were ideal for slower roasting and braising.

They were shown how whole muscles can be slow roasted, chilled down, sliced into steaks and pan-fried to finish. The chef can then use the cooking juices to create a simple sauce, or, going back to the brisket - create a stunning millefeuille of slow braised brisket layered with slivers of traditional root vegetables and served with a veil of foie gras foam.

This was indeed a Michelin starred presentation, but minus the foie gras and the structured serving, the dish was simple traditional fare. In many ways it was reminiscent of a runner of beef cooked in a pot of kale – the staple diet of many a Scottish farming family in the 1950's!

What was presented in Birmingham as shoulder fillet would be more familiar to those from Edinburgh as Glasgow fillet, however, regardless of the terminology, it looks like fillet, but being from the shoulder needs long slow cooking. This too is a versatile, quality cut, suitable for steaking and braising.

The overall aim of the day was to inspire chefs to work more closely with their suppliers and to upgrade the way in which they think of and use forequarter cuts of meat.

Focusing on the quality aspects, the chefs were encouraged to use forequarter cuts to demonstrate their own creativity and to follow the example of continental butchers and work with the raw material that had been provided for them by Scottish farmers.

Meat is still the most popular choice of many who eat out and although price is important; for chefs who care, it is more important to use quality ingredients to the best of ones ability even if this means a move from the well known cuts.

The way to do this is through the way you cook the meat, and the best way to complement the 2-3 years of care and attention by Scottish farmers who rear prime beef animals is to treat each piece as a quality product, to cook it by the methods most suited to the muscle structure and not to differentiate to such an extent on fore or hindquarters.