Sirloin Steak

[Benjamin]

[quote user="Frenchie"]

But maybe it s the way you Brits cook it, indeed..

[/quote]

I don't know if it's been mentioned before in this thread but you should handle steak as little as possible.

In the pan, one turn and onto the plate. I watch people at BBQ's worrying steaks to death by continually flipping them. It makes them tough.

[Chancer]

To Rose, the OP

Dependant on your husbands outlook have you tried him on faux filet de cheval or any other cut of horse steak, ideally from a boucherie chevaline?

Its definitely far and away my favorite and can be reasonably economical if bought from Intermarché etc when on promo.

[Théière]

Don't Gucci make shoes?

I never want my steak that tough.

If you buy supermarket meat then you would probably need to draw out some of the water but from a butcher where its hung the water content should be much lower.

In England at the normal supermarkets I have given up buying steak, as the article says, it steams and will not cook properly. Ordered some proper steak from Donald Russell  for comparison and then began looking for quality local produce.  Real meat takes longer to cook as the water content is lower.

Found what I was looking for Limosin beef in Sussex, perfect.

Find a good butcher you know it makes sense [:)] Supermarkets are run by accountants and they can certainly butcher the taste and texture of any product.

[Chancer]

My experience bears out Pierres, texture? probably better without the water/blood, taste? - well nothing but salt really which is just as well as I am working in stifling hot conditions, drinking about 6 litresof water a day and getting muscle cramps.

I tried one half of it raw as it looked and felt like billtong, it tasted like it too and I didnt really notice the salt.

Next time I get some cheap steak I will try it again but with some peppercorns and other seasoning with the rocksalt to make some more billtong.

There is usually something good that can be salvaged from a failed experiment.

[Théière]

[quote user="J.Rs gone native"]

There is usually something good that can be salvaged from a failed experiment.

[/quote]

Only with the addition of a curry sauce [:D]

[Catalpa]

Recently discussed on TotalFrance - post 5 explains why so much French steak is so mediocre compared to British meat.

http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65277

CBPinet's last post on page 2 is interesting too.

[Frenchie]

I m sorry but I partly disagree...

We have ( sometiimes) excellent tender beef here too, as has already been said by different posters.

Even the one in supermarkets, the only thing is that it is OK for French taste in cooking !!!!

Generally the English like it really well done, and in this case, c est de la semmelle !!!!!

If you go to yur local butcher and ask for local quality meat, yu ll get either Limousine or Salers or Parthenaise, etc<<

and that is truely tender!!!

Pleaesestop being all negative about it!!!

Sorry if there are typos, this UK keyboard s driving me mad!!!!   [:D]

 

 

 

[Théière]

True Frenchie, I have had some beautiful steak from the local butcher and from leClerc's butcher not pre packed. As you said from one of your postings on steak hache if you get it made by the butcher you get the best.

One of the good things to come out of the british BSE problem is that we have got rid of the old beef and are now stocked with young tender juicy ones.

Frenchie would you like a young tender and juicy one right now? [:-))][Www][:$]

[Frenchie]

Well......  it s getting close to the sacred lunch ti;e in France so... yeahhh  [:D][:D][Www]

[Clair]

This "tough beef" discussion is a regular topic on the forum (see this discussion and this older one).

I am with Frenchie and I am very happy with the Salers steaks I buy from the supermarket (I cook them rare and they melt in the mouth).

This in not the UK. The cuts are different (this might help), the length of hanging is different, the names are different... Talk to your butcher and get his advice.

Then get used to it or stick to chicken! [:D]

[Chancer]

I should add that my faux filet would undoubtedly have been as tender (cooked saignante) as the others from the same batch if not for my saline case hardening treatment.

And I should have spelt Biltong with only one L.

[Théière]

[quote user="Clair"]
This in not the UK. The cuts are different (this might help),
[/quote]

Tenderloin chain on, and chain off! reads like a Max Mosely S&M party [:D]

[Catalpa]

Sorry Clair and Frenchie. I understand you need to defend your nation but I do understand meat and good steak and it is nothing to do with butchery (different cuts) or how well done it is - I prefer mine bleu, not well-done... the meat is shown the heat to sear it and taken it away. It is everything to do with poor quality meat and a lack of understanding of how carcases should be treated.

Good quality beef can certainly be found here but not as easily as it is available nowadays in the UK - or England, anyway. The longer I am in France the more I am coming to the conclusion that "the average French person is genetically imprinted to understand and produce wonderful food" is a myth... just as is the myth that British people can't cook. Yes we can. Better than the average French person. And we are open to new ideas and external influences.

[:P]

[Clair]

[quote user="Catalpa"]Sorry Clair and Frenchie. I understand you need to defend your nation[/quote]

I don't feel I "need to defend" anything [:D]

The fact is that I do not have any difficulty buying, cooking and eating good tasty meat.

[Catalpa]

Neither do we... because we now rear - and butcher - our own. And the abbatoir has finally accepted our desire for longer hanging of the carcases. [;-)]

[Théière]

Well I'm sorry too, its normal for us not yet resident to compare and the UK has undergone a renaisance in cooking, does any other country have as many cookery programmes as us?

I reckon it's because of France that I became interested in the food we eat, I had a fresh leg of French lamb for 11 euros last week and it was wonderful some of the best I have eaten any where.

It's the reason I now buy my meat from here

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Catalpa"]Sorry Clair and Frenchie. I understand you need to defend your nation[/quote]
I don't feel I "need to defend" anything [:D]
The fact is that I do not have any difficulty buying, cooking and eating good tasty meat.
[/quote]

Exactly...............

 

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Catalpa"]   the conclusion that "the average French person is genetically imprinted to understand and produce wonderful food" is a myth... just as is the myth that British people can't cook. Yes we can. Better than the average French person. And we are open to new ideas and external influences.

[:P]
[/quote]

 

How can yu write such things????

No one here ever said that British people couldn't cook, some can, some cannot, same thing for French people .

France has a long tradition of cuisine traditionnelle and haute cuisine, and IMO ; food in the UK has improved a lot in the past 20 years.

There were always good things, but not as much variety as in France, now, thanks to exotic influences, it is more varied, but for the average French person, this is NOT UK cuisine.

Hope you understand what I mean.

Just as much as couscous and taboulé, though widely spread, are NOT French cuisine.

 

[Clair]

[quote user="Frenchie"]Just as much as couscous and taboulé, though widely spread, are NOT French cuisine. [/quote]

I quite fancy a nice couscous now! [:D]

Lamb, merguez, chickpeas, courgettes, turnips, harissa... Mmmmm [:D]

[Frenchie]

Clair, my mum makes the best in the world !!!

 

[Clair]

I'll have to come round![:D]

When I was much younger, our Moroccan neighbour would invite us round and she taught my mother to make it, but it has been a while since I have had the chance to eat a nice couscous!

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Clair"]I'll have to come round![:D]
When I was much younger, our Moroccan neighbour would invite us round and she taught my mother to make it, but it has been a while since I have had the chance to eat a nice couscous!
[/quote]

It is delicious indeed..

My mum learnt how to do it from an Algerian neighbour too.

When I was there last week, she made it, .. we were 8 around the table, all saying hmmmm .. none was left... [:)]

Next time we go, feel free to accompany us to the Côte d'Azur !! [;-)]

 

[Catalpa]

[quote user="Frenchie"]How can yu write such things???? [/quote]

Because it was quite good fun to do so. [6] [:D] And you did rather lay yourself open to a bit of a windup with your comment...

[quote user="Frenchie"]But maybe it s the way you Brits cook it, indeed..[/quote]

But slightly more seriously, the longer I'm here and the more I eat out both at people's homes and restaurants, the more I talk food, particularly with French people, the more I think that British people are often more knowledgeable about food generally: the quality of produce, where it comes from, animal husbandry and welfare and preparation methods than other nationalities. The plethora of UK tv cookery programs may have something to do with it... from an education pov. But something has happened.

[quote user="Frenchie"]...but for the average French person, this is NOT UK cuisine. [/quote]

And that's an interesting point because it misses the point.

A <insert nationality of choice here> cook being influenced by ideas from Asia, Australia - wherever - is just adding a different dimension to often well-known dishes. It doesn't have to stick to being classically British. And I think that's why I'm finding French cooking a bit dull and predictable.

[quote user="puzzled"]You don't sell any do you ?She asks hopefully[/quote]

[:D] No. I don't think we ever would produce enough to sell. It's not what we want to do. And for that matter, we don't have enough land. Where approximately are you though?

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Catalpa"]but for the average French person, this is NOT UK cuisine.
And that's an interesting point because it misses the point.

A <insert nationality of choice here> cook being influenced by ideas from Asia, Australia - wherever - is just adding a different dimension to often well-known dishes. It doesn't have to stick to being classically British. And I think that's why I'm finding French cooking a bit dull and predictable.

[/quote]

Not hot enough to ruin all the taste??

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Catalpa"][[quote user="Frenchie"]...but for the average French person, this is NOT UK cuisine. [/quote]

And that's an interesting point because it misses the point.

A <insert nationality of choice here> cook being influenced by ideas from Asia, Australia - wherever - is just adding a different dimension to often well-known dishes. It doesn't have to stick to being classically British. And I think that's why I'm finding French cooking a bit dull and predictable.

[/quote]

Oh no,[:P] it is most of the time not adding an exotic touch to a pre existing British dish, but rather ADOPTING a foreign recipe ( I think of most Indian food, etc...