By Adam Rabiner
Steak (R)evolution suggests a history of the center stage of many a backyard barbeque or Power Lunch, as well as something new. But don’t read too much into the title. French director Franck Ribiere (rib him with the moniker “Ribeye”) is not overly concerned with an overarching theme as he travels the world in pursuit of world-class steak, interviewing chefs, butchers, and cattle breeders. You’re introduced to conventional vs. pasture-raised cattle, but there’s little discussion of differences in taste, environmental, and social impact.
But one thing is clear. France, though it’s come a long way since the 1950s when beef was mostly boiled due to its toughness, still lags behind other nations in the kind of fatty, marbled, cuts that sizzle on a grill. Ribiere’ s globetrotting boils down to a travelogue ranging from Plow to Plate, as our film series is familiarly known to many of our readers.
First and foremost is fat, a point elaborated by chefs copiously drizzling oil or slathering butter. The problem with France’s cows is that until the mid-20th century they were just too scrawny. Flab is what gives steak its flavor and tenderness, terrifying to the French who have a phobia about it and don’t understand that most blubber melts away while cooking. Age is also a factor. Ribiere observes that “in France we eat old cows” compared to nations like the United States. (Note, however, that some of the best steak in the world comes from Spanish cows that can be slaughtered as late as the ripe old age of fourteen). France also has a problem with breeds. Its animals are heavy, muscular, lean, and athletic, qualities not well adapted to the grill. Breeds like the Maine Anjou mature late and produce lots of collagen, a structural protein the enemy of tenderness. Boiled, collagen turns into jelly. But grilled, it’s problematically tough.
Turning from France, Ribiere lands in Brooklyn and drops in at The Meat Hook and Fleishers Craft Butchery (revolution?), which specializes in meat that is ecological, locally sourced from small farms, fully pastured and grass fed, and is raised without antibiotics or hormones. Here a pound of New York Strip might set you back $24.99. The meat is ungraded because it is not well-suited to the U.S.D.A. system designed for western feedlots producing thousands of heads a day. Employee Bill Cavanaugh predicts that we’ll eat less meat in the future, but it will be better and cost more.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ribiere also stops at the world-famous Peter Luger Steak House (evolution?). Brazilian chef Marcos Bassi, who died in 2013 shortly after filming, discovered superior grade prime beef here known for its tenderness, juiciness, flavor, texture, and the highest degree of marbling. Basso reverentially remembers a porterhouse eaten here thirty years ago as the best he’d ever had. Peter Luger, true to its flavor profile, doesn’t use grass-fed beef, which has a totally different taste from what their customers expect - more robust and beefier than milder grain-finished beef. But aficionados may be surprised to find that even one hundred percent grass-fed beef can be spectacularly well-marbled.
Elsewhere on his journey, in Argentina, the average person eats 60 kilos of red meat per year compared to 18 in Europe and 25-30 in America. Ribiere discovered that ribs are more popular than rib-eyes and that you should use cooking salt because regular table salt does not penetrate. Fifteen minutes into Steak (R)evolution Ribiere is in Brazil where locals love meat but not too fatty. A favorite cooking method is brining in salt water - but not overly long - putting beef on metal sticks and grilling on a spit over coals. A local cattle breed is Nelore, not high quality, but well-suited to Brazil’s climate. Experiments cross-breeding with European Angus or Simmental to improve quality have not been successful due to lowered resistance to Lyme disease, heat, worms, and other conditions. Both Argentina and Brazil are increasingly adopting the intensive feedlot systems found in the United States and Europe.
From the Southern Hemisphere Ribiere decamps to the Great White North where he converses with Toronto writer Mark Schatzker, author of Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef and dines with the owners of Montreal’s Joe Beef. Further culinary adventures take him to the highlands of Scotland where the Aberdeen Angus breed originated 140 years ago, England, to learn about the Hereford breed, Sweden to interview Anders Larson, founder of iWagyu, and a Japanese farm dating from the Meiji era where pampered Black Cattle (Tajima Kobe beef) are played Mozart, sprayed with sake, and massaged with straw to facilitate blood circulation and marbling. He voyages to an organic farm in Florence, Italy where they raise Chianina cattle, and Corsica where an entire island community gathers en masse once a year for a traditional rotisserie picnic. He pauses in Galicia, Spain to sample a seven year old steak from a Rubia Gallega breed, the best in the world. Butchers must cut each muscle in a specific way. He finds it better than Wagyu. Then he circles back to France to discuss efforts to improve upon the local breeds of Bazadaise in Sauternes (better known for its wine), Aubrac, and the Blonde d ‘Aquitaine, a breed with no fat and no taste.
Ribiere has done the exact opposite of what author Paul Greenberg did in the previous Plow to Plate film screening of Fish on My Plate. While Greenberg attempted to lower his cholesterol by eating nothing but fish for a year, Ribiere seems hell-bent on sending his through the roof.
Steak (R)evolution suggests a history of the center stage of many a backyard barbeque or Power Lunch, as well as something new. But don’t read too much into the title. French director Franck Ribiere (rib him with the moniker “Ribeye”) is not overly concerned with an overarching theme as he travels the world in pursuit of world-class steak, interviewing chefs, butchers, and cattle breeders. You’re introduced to conventional vs. pasture-raised cattle, but there’s little discussion of differences in taste, environmental, and social impact.
But one thing is clear. France, though it’s come a long way since the 1950s when beef was mostly boiled due to its toughness, still lags behind other nations in the kind of fatty, marbled, cuts that sizzle on a grill. Ribiere’ s globetrotting boils down to a travelogue ranging from Plow to Plate, as our film series is familiarly known to many of our readers.
First and foremost is fat, a point elaborated by chefs copiously drizzling oil or slathering butter. The problem with France’s cows is that until the mid-20th century they were just too scrawny. Flab is what gives steak its flavor and tenderness, terrifying to the French who have a phobia about it and don’t understand that most blubber melts away while cooking. Age is also a factor. Ribiere observes that “in France we eat old cows” compared to nations like the United States. (Note, however, that some of the best steak in the world comes from Spanish cows that can be slaughtered as late as the ripe old age of fourteen). France also has a problem with breeds. Its animals are heavy, muscular, lean, and athletic, qualities not well adapted to the grill. Breeds like the Maine Anjou mature late and produce lots of collagen, a structural protein the enemy of tenderness. Boiled, collagen turns into jelly. But grilled, it’s problematically tough.
Turning from France, Ribiere lands in Brooklyn and drops in at The Meat Hook and Fleishers Craft Butchery (revolution?), which specializes in meat that is ecological, locally sourced from small farms, fully pastured and grass fed, and is raised without antibiotics or hormones. Here a pound of New York Strip might set you back $24.99. The meat is ungraded because it is not well-suited to the U.S.D.A. system designed for western feedlots producing thousands of heads a day. Employee Bill Cavanaugh predicts that we’ll eat less meat in the future, but it will be better and cost more.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ribiere also stops at the world-famous Peter Luger Steak House (evolution?). Brazilian chef Marcos Bassi, who died in 2013 shortly after filming, discovered superior grade prime beef here known for its tenderness, juiciness, flavor, texture, and the highest degree of marbling. Basso reverentially remembers a porterhouse eaten here thirty years ago as the best he’d ever had. Peter Luger, true to its flavor profile, doesn’t use grass-fed beef, which has a totally different taste from what their customers expect - more robust and beefier than milder grain-finished beef. But aficionados may be surprised to find that even one hundred percent grass-fed beef can be spectacularly well-marbled.
Elsewhere on his journey, in Argentina, the average person eats 60 kilos of red meat per year compared to 18 in Europe and 25-30 in America. Ribiere discovered that ribs are more popular than rib-eyes and that you should use cooking salt because regular table salt does not penetrate. Fifteen minutes into Steak (R)evolution Ribiere is in Brazil where locals love meat but not too fatty. A favorite cooking method is brining in salt water - but not overly long - putting beef on metal sticks and grilling on a spit over coals. A local cattle breed is Nelore, not high quality, but well-suited to Brazil’s climate. Experiments cross-breeding with European Angus or Simmental to improve quality have not been successful due to lowered resistance to Lyme disease, heat, worms, and other conditions. Both Argentina and Brazil are increasingly adopting the intensive feedlot systems found in the United States and Europe.
From the Southern Hemisphere Ribiere decamps to the Great White North where he converses with Toronto writer Mark Schatzker, author of Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef and dines with the owners of Montreal’s Joe Beef. Further culinary adventures take him to the highlands of Scotland where the Aberdeen Angus breed originated 140 years ago, England, to learn about the Hereford breed, Sweden to interview Anders Larson, founder of iWagyu, and a Japanese farm dating from the Meiji era where pampered Black Cattle (Tajima Kobe beef) are played Mozart, sprayed with sake, and massaged with straw to facilitate blood circulation and marbling. He voyages to an organic farm in Florence, Italy where they raise Chianina cattle, and Corsica where an entire island community gathers en masse once a year for a traditional rotisserie picnic. He pauses in Galicia, Spain to sample a seven year old steak from a Rubia Gallega breed, the best in the world. Butchers must cut each muscle in a specific way. He finds it better than Wagyu. Then he circles back to France to discuss efforts to improve upon the local breeds of Bazadaise in Sauternes (better known for its wine), Aubrac, and the Blonde d ‘Aquitaine, a breed with no fat and no taste.
Ribiere has done the exact opposite of what author Paul Greenberg did in the previous Plow to Plate film screening of Fish on My Plate. While Greenberg attempted to lower his cholesterol by eating nothing but fish for a year, Ribiere seems hell-bent on sending his through the roof.