What’s your beef?
Several restaurants in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao put the spotlight on Australian grassfed beef
When it comes to imported beef, there are only three source countries that come to mind—US, Australia, and Japan. Among these countries, Australia currently enjoys the lion’s share of the Philippine market. Australian beef accounts for about 40 percent of all beef imports in the country.
Most of the beef products go to the restaurant industry, from fast food chains to buffet restaurants to hotels. What makes Australian beef different is 97 percent of the cattle raised in Australia are grassfed. This means that each farm lets the cattle freely graze on fields, eating only grass and no kind of feed whatsoever. The farms even allot one hectare of land per cattle, avoiding overcrowding.
“They’re all happy cows in Australia. They just graze around,” explains Elodie Journet, senior trade and investment commissioner of the Australian Embassy to the Philippines. “And the difference with grassfed beef is it is a healthy beef because it has less fat content.”
According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Australia was the largest beef exporter in the world in 2015. It also produced 2.34 million tons of beef and veal products between 2015 and 2016.
To further promote Aussie grassfed beef to Filipino consumers, the Australian Embassy organized the second Australian Grassfed on the Menu promotion. Held for the first time two years ago, the promotion features special Australian grassfed beef dishes at select restaurants in Metro Manila. This year, with a total of 41 participating restaurants, the promotion has expanded beyond Metro Manila, including some restaurants in Cebu and Davao in the lineup.
“We are pleased that this year, we got an increase in the number of outlets. For the first time, it’s not only concentrated in Manila but now it’s also in Cebu and Davao. It’s demonstrating that the food scene is changing so quickly in the Philippines and we’re really proud to be part of that,” Elodie says.
For eight days, the embassy organized a culinary trail for the media to introduce the restaurants and the dishes. These restaurants created special menu items featuring grassfed beef, which they started offering last June 30. The promotion ends on Aug. 30.
“We’ve got everything from Australian food to Filipino food to Chinese to Italian to Swiss. We’ve got everything from fine dining to casual dining,” she says. “That’s the message we want to send in this promotion. Just because it’s healthy and Australian doesn’t mean that you have to dine at fivestar restaurants, because you can get access to good beef in a more casual setting and be able to experience good quality beef.”
Here are five of the participating restaurants on the campaign and their special dishes.
DEAN & DELUCA, Rockwell, Makati City
Dean & Deluca created five dishes for the grassfed promotion. It offers classic and new dishes on the special menu at both of its branches at Rockwell and Legaspi Village, Makati.
The roast beef marmalade on crostini bread topped with pickles plays on the sweet side. The pulled roast beef is mixed with a sweet sauce and contrasted by the tart pickles. The crostini adds another contrast in terms of texture.
The braised beef ragu, on the other hand, is a hearty pasta dish. The slow cooked beef shank ragua la Milanese is paired with the flat and broad pappardelle pasta. The rib-eye steak is a classic pan-seared steak served with bone marrow butter, flaky sea salt topping, and a side of tabbouleh salad.
For people who love spicy food, a must-try is the roasted beef short ribs. The extremely tender short ribs is served with red rice, green shallot kimchi, and jalapeño purée. There’s the plate of natural beef hash, which is perfect for breakfast. The dish is a mix of heirloom potatoes, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, topped with dollops of basil pesto, Parmesan cheese shavings, and two poached eggs.
22 PRIME AT DISCOVERY SUITES,
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
This restaurant, which prides itself with using prime USDA beef, found Australian grassfed beef a pleasant surprise. Executive chef Gerwin Bailon says that he was surprised with the quality of the Aussie beef considering that it’s not that expensive.
“The quality is comparable. We’ve been using prime beef for a long time so we trust the quality and the brand. We’re surprised at the Australian grassfed because it’s not that expensive but the quality is really good. The flavor is also more robust,” he says.
His special menu fuses Western classic techniques with Asian flavors. First is the steak and tomato salad. The Australian skirt steak was marinated in a slurry of sake, mirin, soy sauce, and lemon juice, then lightly grilled. It is served with a mix of roasted and fresh heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, feta cheese, and a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil.
The oven-roasted short ribs, on the other hand, is a classic dish with an Asian twist. Boneless Australian short ribs are slow-roasted in an oven for four hours, then served with a soy glaze, seaweed potato purée, and wilted garlic spinach.
Then there’s the sous vide striploin, served with roasted potatoes, mushroom ragout, asparagus, and spicy sambal hollandaise sauce.
PAPA DIDDI’S,
Sapphire Bloc, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Papa Diddi’s has probably one of the simplest menu, but offers the most satisfying choices. This restaurant that specializes in uniquely flavored and Filipino-inspired ice cream is also an expert on northern cuisine, specifically, Cagayan specialties.
The pancit batil patung is a traditional noodle dish from Tuguegarao. Traditionally made with beef stock and egg noodles, Papa Diddi’s version uses freshly made linguini noodles, classic beef stock, topped with ground beef, fried pork, cabbage, onion, carrots, spring onions, and a poached egg. Each bowl of pancit is served with a soup and a trio of condiments—chopped red onions, fresh chili, and soy sauce. Diners can custom the dish to their desired consistency and additional flavor.
Papa Diddi’s fusion burger is the eatery’s take on the classic ground beef patty sandwich. The beef patty is accompanied by a banana blossom patty, lettuce, pineapple ring, sunny side up egg, pickles, kesong puti, and honey mustard dressing sandwiched between your choice of ube, malunggay, or pandan buns.
What makes Australian beef different is 97 percent of the cattle raised in Australia are grassfed.