You’re picking wrong meat

Are you serious about meat? Ceasar Mutuku, abattoir and processing manager at Morendat Farm in Naivasha which supplies good steak to most high-end restaurants is.

He says the most important thing to note when selecting steak is to know your needs.

“The cut you buy is dependent on if you want to do a stew, stir-fry, meatballs, grill, roast or slow cooking,” he says.

We are standing at Morendat Farm in Naivasha sampling some of steaks while some of their cows graze further afield.

The farm is popular for its prime steaks, some aged, supplying establishments like Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel, Sankara Nairobi, Hemingways, Tribe Hotel as well as restaurants including J’s Fresh Bar & Kitchen and Secret Garden in Nairobi.

With more Kenyans seeking to host in their own homes, however, the farm not only supplies caterers but is also keen on having more people understand the various options available when it comes to selecting cuts of beef. To make things simpler, Mr Mutuku explains it in three sections: the front shoulder, centre cut and hind quarter.

“We have the front shoulder which is the arm of the beef. This is best for things like minced meat because of the fat and lean meat ratio which can, for instance, make really nice moist burgers,” he says.

“We also have specific cuts like brisket and chuck from Naivasha which are great for long cooking. You can do a good braising accompanied by mashed potatoes, or even stew them. Since they have a lot of tendons, these front cuts are most suitable for long cooking because that will make them softer.”

When it comes to the hind quarter, the meat expert suggests using these cuts for roasting.

“Here we have cuts like topside and silverside which have a fat lining on the top which is great for keeping your meat moist as well as retaining juices and flavour while roasting.

If you have several guests, you can do a whole roast joint and curve on the table, and this would do well with things like jacket or roast potatoes,” he says.

The middle or centre cut is where you get most of the prime steaks sold in hotels and restaurants. Here you will get cuts like T-bone, rib eye, fillet, top sirloin and short rib.

Aged for days

“These cuts are great for a quick grill or pan-fry. With the fillet you can for instance do a whole roast or cut it into medallions that you can pan fry and serve with fries or mixed vegetables. This is a quick 10-15 minute dish, and the great thing about these centre cuts is that you can buy them already portioned at the butchery,” Mr Mutuku says.

The centre cuts make for the most prime steaks and are therefore the more costly when it comes to prices. He recommends buying about 250 grammes to 300 grammes which is a good portion for one person and they are easy and quick to make with a simple five to 10 minute marination in salt, pepper and herbs like rosemary or thyme.

Most people know cuts like T-bone or fillet, but there are so many other varieties to choose from. Usually, when you give someone a slice of top cuts from the hind quarter, they would rather do beef cubes and stew rather than grill it for a couple of minutes.
However from aged meat, you get really good quality steak.

‘‘Because we’ve gotten rid of excess tendons which makes meat very tough. There is also the acquired flavour and the hanging for {14 to 21 days} which reduces the amount of water so you can only cook it for three to five minutes. People are now learning to appreciate steaks from front and hind quarters,” says the Morendat abattoir and processing manager.