Steak

OK, so you know how revolting it is when someone orders their steak so rare that basically all they want is for the chef to walk past the grill when he's taking it to your table? Well, my friend Kelly ordered one that way today. Everyone at the table was pretty horrified, especially when it arrived. But I figured, OK, she has good taste and her craziness generally resides elsewhere, so I'm curious. So I ask if I can try a little sliver of it. She cuts me off a corner and puts it on my plate.

My biggest mistake was picking it up with my fingers. It felt exactly like something I would be touching because I was preparing food to be cooked, not to be eaten. But I was far too committed at this point not to try it.

And hoooly christ it was good. So so tender. The cooked edges gave that nice bit of flavourfulness, and inside was just soft ant springy and absolutely showed you what good quality steaks they serve at Hunter's. It just makes me want to walk up to a cow in a farmer's field and bite it. The waitress even said she made sure the chef didn't over-cook it, because chefs have a tendency to overcook steak. Perhaps they just want to feel like a part of the process.

I don't know if I'd want to eat a whole steak in this fashion, but I'm definitely ordering my next one more rare than I ever have before. Apparently The Keg restaurants give you an option of "black and blue" steak where they cook the outside very well and leave the inside nice and raw and tender. This strikes me as just about perfect since you get the most flavour and the best-tasting meat.

Labels: Food