Paying thousands of dollars to eat a piece of meat stored from… months to years – this latest “luxury” trend makes many people both curious, excited, and scared.
At first glance, it looks like a regular steak, when cut, it will give off a strong scent of seeds and mushrooms, but this is the most expensive piece of beef in the world with a price of 3,200 USD (equivalent to 73 million VND). ).
And what’s more absurd, is that you have to wait… 15 years to enjoy it!
This method of aging meat, also known as “hibernating meat” or “ dry-aged beef” , has been compared to aging wine to make the beef richer and more unforgettable.
Cows after slaughter will be handled according to strict standards, creating an organic protective layer to help prevent rotting bacteria, hanging upside down in low conditions or completely isolated from moisture. The cost of the meat will be proportional to the incubation time.
In 5-star restaurants, you can find meat that stays dormant for 3-6 months, a little more advanced for a few years, and meat that lasts up to 15 years is an exclusive product of the Polmard family.
Just a small farm in the South of France, but this is the only place in the world that offers this strange dish, with equally quirky rules.
In addition to the huge price to pay, you need to book at least 1 year in advance, because the family farm only slaughters exactly 4 cows per week.
This also partly explains the “exorbitant” price of this beef dish.
Because the cows are raised according to the excessive method, they are massaged and talked daily to relax, make the meat more delicious, the amount of slaughter is too little while the incubation time is too long.
Not to mention, the incubation time will lose most of the meat. Basically, you will have to pay thousands of dollars for a piece of meat that is not fresh, less than normal meat, and still have to wait for a long time even though you don’t know if you can eat it or not!
Despite all that, old cows still sell like hot cakes, even becoming bright stars in luxury restaurants in the last two years.
People even find ways to make the beef more fragrant – brewing it in wine, for example!
The hand of time has coated beef with a passionate flavor that no other seasoning can do. “If I had to describe it, it tasted like roasted hazelnuts and dried mushrooms,” said American chef Billy Oliva.
There are also people who praise it as soft as a piece of chocolate, or enjoy the faint aroma of wine in each slice of beef.
Although the idea of eating a piece of meat from a few months to a few years gives many people chills, its unique taste still attracts dozens of gourmets every year.
You can find all kinds of cows aged from “young” to “old”, with various prices: 0 for 180 days of aging (Delmonico restaurant), or 0 for 150 days of aging (Cote restaurant)…
Most of the restaurants serving aged cows are concentrated in Manhattan, the culinary center of America.
But you can also find this dish in high-end restaurants in Europe, Hong Kong, Japan… signaling a trend of eating that is spreading around the world.
Are we splurging on stale meat?
The answer is no, if it is handled properly!
In fact, since ancient times, people have applied the rule of freezing to make food more delicious and nutritious.
Similar to the principle of making wine or fish sauce, controlling the incubation environment can eliminate bad bacteria that cause meat degradation, while increasing the amount of beneficial bacteria to make meat more delicious and good for health.
In Spain, there is the famous Serrano salted pork, which has been hanging in the mountains for a whole year!
It sounds “horror” but brewing meat is an art. Meat usually begins to ferment in late autumn and early winter, the climate is favorable for natural beneficial bacteria to grow, helping to break down proteins and fats into amino acids that enhance flavor.
Wait 6 months to spring and summer, the climate is dry, harmful bacteria cannot grow. As a result, we have soft, fatty pieces of salted meat that are evenly dispersed in each fiber, melting as soon as they are put in the mouth.
Similarly, take a look behind the scenes preparing plates of beef to age, and you’ll understand why famous restaurants confidently serve this seemingly gruesome dish.
The pieces of meat will be “hibernated” under the correct conditions of temperature and humidity. When enough incubation, it is brought to the kitchen and decanted with all the parts of the meat showing signs of bacterial invasion (the most obvious ones are the parts that start to have green moss).
The processing of beef to age requires meticulousness and high technique, only a few chefs in the world can do this.
For example, the Polmard family only supplies meat to about 5 restaurants around the world – where they believe they have enough processing skills to make beef delicious and not cause any cases of food poisoning.
We have long believed that the fresher the food, the better it tastes. But the history and reality of the beef dish shows that, modern eating trends have changed.
Although restaurants specializing in aging cows still advise that you should not brew your own beef at home, it only applies to complex brewing recipes up to months.
In culinary science, besides dry-aged beef , there has long been a method of making wet-aged beef . Instead of isolating moisture, meat is often put in a dedicated incubation bag, venting all the oxygen out to prevent bacteria from multiplying.
The incubation time is only 4 – 10 days, making the meat more delicious and limiting the risk of rotting and disease. This method has become quite popular, when specialized oxygen bags are widely sold in supermarkets in the US.
When compared with regular fresh meat, in addition to its delicious taste, softer texture, aged meat is also believed to break down bad fats.
In other words, it makes meat easier to digest, less harmful to the heart, especially fatty meats like rib-eyes. Therefore, in addition to beef, today people also try to “age” with lamb, which has a similar protein and fat texture to beef.
As science develops, the transformation of cuisine becomes more and more unpredictable. Who knows, in the future, the freshest piece of meat you can buy in the supermarket was actually slaughtered… last month!