I am sure this has already been discussed ad invinitum and I apologise in advance, but is there a discussion, preferably with a diagram attached, about the French cuts of beef. I remember a discussion where many people agreed it’s very difficult to get a good steak in France, but it would be easier to talk about this with the butcher if I understood the differences between English and French cuts.
Any help gratefully received.
Thanks very much for the info, Julian.
We agree John, very good eating. Lucky enough to live 5km away.
Sadly I suspect not to the Var!
We have our meat from Brent @ Grass punk we used to go to the farm but now its Toulouse which saves us 90 min each way, my wife also likes her beef cremated but if i'm careful during cooking i can get her to eat it just off pink the last Rib eye we had was absolutely superb
Côte de boeuf done over glowing old vinewood until caramelly outside & really bloody inside - heaven.
When I'm cutting beef up for things people (including me) usually swipe bits to eat raw: sometimes we are even patient enough to tart it up into carpaccio or tartare.
To jump from the cock to the donkey (both tasty): OFFAL lovely lovely offal, that's another reason you need to have a good butcher. Delicious liver, kidneys & brains... I'm not so keen on heart.
My hubby, unfortunately, likes his steak well done, and needless to say, it is impossible to get a decent steak medium well to well in France. I could eat beef while the cow is still mooing but a chacon son gout.
I also do not quite agree that an entrecote is the equivalent of a ribeye steak, at least not American ribeyes.
;))
20 days, that’s the secret Carol, I’ll look at the website.
Try the Tornedo or Filet de boeuf. I cannot eat any other steak. The French must have stronger teeth than I have!
I do I live nearby.
Try tranche a tendre from a good butcher. I had a slice of this sold to me by a local beef farm as a steak and it was really good. The farm produces beef only from Salers cattle which have a good life in the fields and is then killed and hung for 20 days. Google Grasspunk and you should find it. It is situated in the Gers.
How many of us use Brent Curtis who is an American beef farmer in the Gers
Thank you for this bavette info, Julian. I think I’d better book a slot with the butcher, I have so much to talk to him about. I shall try the marinade too.
All these cuts I’ve never heard of, thanks again Veronique!
& ask for hampe - looks fairly dull but v good (again you have to get in quick).
Yes, I knew there had been previous discussions on this, but I couldn’t find it, thanks James.
Btw in my post I meant to say ad infinitum, not the typo as above!
Maybe ad invinitum might imply something wine related …
Oh the joy of a good butcher!
Finding a good butcher & picking his brains is a v good idea, butchers always know what to do with different cuts & if you tell them what end result you want they will recommend something. Or if you rush in wailing you don't know what to dooooooooo they will tell you. My butcher used to cook my roast beef for me (for eating cold in summer for lots of people) AND his wife made absolutely the best pot-au-feu-en-salade ever (and he used to give me free boxes of it to scoff with the children) AND he prepared beautiful sucking-pig - I am still mourning the fact that he's retired.