How to meat your match
Ahead of Father’s Day next Sunday, Lebohang Mosia spoke to experts about how to pick and prepare meat, whether braaing, roasting or frying, to make a feast fit for a king
WHEN I first learnt to cook, I was only comfortable with simple cuts of chicken and pork. Now I know better and I’m not shy about buying cuts of meat that need roasting, stewing, poaching, braising or grilling.
“As a rule of thumb,” said Liezel Andrews, the director of hybrid braai manufacturers, Chad-o-Chef, “the parts of an animal that move the most will require the longest and slowest cooking. Those will reward you with a deep flavour when cooked properly.
“On pork, lamb or beef, those parts are usually the shins and the shoulders.”
I learnt this trick from my father, at many a family braai: try to choose your meat with the bone still in as the bone will render great flavour and nutrients when cooked slowly in a liquid with meat attached to it. If you grill or roast meat with the bone, you can then use those bones to make delicious stock.
Dino Nathanael, the director of My Braai online butcher, said: “Depending on your preference, meat is available in various ‘grades’ or quality, as well as varying fat content,” said Nathanael.
“Therefore, beforehand, identify the type of cut you are looking for – such as rump, fillet or sirloin – look out for visible fat, as this enhances the taste.”
There are several worldwide standards related to meat which consider fair practice in farming, overall food standard and hygiene.
Free-range is another practice that is gaining global support.
When choosing meat at your butcher’s, other than how it was fed or treated, look for cuts that are dry, have a deep red to purplish colour and are marbled with fat, with an extra-creamy fat layer on top.
Of course, with pork or chicken, it won’t be marbled, but good cuts of pork should have a good layer of fat on the exterior (except for lean cuts like the tenderloin).
“The more fat a cut of meat has, the more moisture it will hold when cooked. You’ll want to choose meat that looks dry because wet meat often hasn’t been hung long enough and will lose most of its juices in the cooking process,” said Chef Temba Dube, a graduate from the Capsicum Culinary Studio with extensive training at a wine farm and Franschhoek-based restaurant.
“Hanging an animal makes the muscle fibres break down and the meat gets more tender.”
For almost all cooking methods, it’s best to have your meat at room temperature before cooking it.
When choosing meat, consider these four factors:
Juiciness and tenderness
These are two very important factors when it comes to meat quality. They are both influenced by the cut of meat you choose and how long the meat is cooked.
The more a muscle is used, the stronger and tougher the cut of meat will be. The longer meat is cooked, the more liquid it loses and the tougher it becomes.
Factors that also influence tenderness are the animal’s age at slaughter as well as the amount of fat and connective tissue.
Fat content
Meat with a lot of fat usually has a more distinctive flavour than leaner meat. There is a perception that meat with a lot of fat makes the meat more tender, but not always .
Grade of meat
Grade is all about the fat content. Meat that has a higher grade has more fat and is more tender.
Cut
“Loin” is the word used for the leanest cut of meat – sirloin, tenderloin, etc.