Discovering new steak cuts for family dinners with The Meat Elite

The other Sunday eight-month-old Baby Boy was enjoying a delicious Flat Iron steak for supper. It was something we’d never had at home before, but after attending a cookery event with The Meat Elite at L’atelier des Chefs by St Paul’s and receiving some cuts to try I was ready to introduce the whole family to everything from Flat Iron to Picanha steaks.

A master butcher from The Meat Elite, part of the UK Quality Standard Mark for beef and lamb, demonstrated how different cuts are prepared and taught us all about new cuts we might start to see more of in the UK this year.

After the session I felt silly for mostly sticking to fillets and sirloins when we buy steaks from our favourite Fulham butcher Randalls. I’ve been concerned about buying something that tastes funny after a few bad steak experiences elsewhere, but I now realised this has probably not been caused by the cut but by the steaks not having been dry-aged.

As long as the steaks have been dry-aged, I’m now ready to be more experimental. The Flat Iron steak, a US import taken from the shoulder area, was a favourite from the steak bar menu we tried with The Meat Elite, and I also really enjoyed the Bistro Rump cut.

A traditional Rump steak is usually made up of three different muscles, whereas a Bistro Rump is taken from the most tender part of the Rump and is trimmed to produce a lean and flavoursome steak.

For my steak lunch at the event, I made a Picanha steak with smoked paprika butter, and I picked this Brazilian cut, as it’s flavoursome and different since it’s cut across the grain, rather than along it.

I’ve realised the trick is to know more about cuts and become an experienced shopper. I’m sure Baby Boy will appreciate my newly acquired knowledge at least, as his Flat Iron supper was very well received.

Tags: Baby food, Beef, Bistro Rump Steak, Cooking, Dinner, Family food, Flat Iron Steak, Picanha Steak, Quality Standard for beef and lamb, Steak, The Meat Elite