macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis) (11/07/85)
> The least lean [supermarket ground beef] ... up to twice as expensive > as the leannest. ...how much fat is removed by cooking...? I believe the way markets calibrate the leanness is in fact to cook the meat until it's very well done, and measure the fat released. If you like your meat rare or even medium, the fat content remains. Indeed, it's the fat content that gives most of the juiciness and taste. I'm a great believer in full-fat hamburger cooked rare. An interesting side-effect of this mania for low-fat meat is that certain cuts of meat that used to be considered tough and dry, and only suitable for stewing, have now become highly prized. A frugal cook follows the market, so if you read competant cookbooks published before the past 20 years or so, you will find wonderful stews and braises based on these tough and dry cuts -- often larded for juiciness. Beef shins are the classic case: formerly very cheap, now more expensive at times than sirloin. For that matter, it used to be that ground beef was considerably cheaper than whole meat. I find it amusing that it is now as expensive as the cheaper steaks, many of which have excellent taste (what in Boston are called Blade Steaks, for instance -- not tough but not tender, with a stripe of grisle in the middle, but excellent flavor, and perfect for individual servings, running 6-16 oz. depending on thickness). Presumably, hamburger used to be made out of the scraps and unsalable cuts of meat, while now, the demand for hamburger is such that it is a direct competitor with whole meat in allocation of the carcass. What I don't understand is why ground beef has become so popular. Is it because it is still perceived as cheap despite its actual price? Is it because people like hamburgers? Is it because they are using `casserole' recipes from soup cans involving Campbell's Cream of Somethingorother, Kellogg's Rice Krispies, and Hamburger? One hears that ground beef is versatile, but this has never been my experience. Versatility usually follows necessity; my father tells me that chick peas were very `versatile' during the Occupation in Greece: chick pea soup, chick pea `meatballs', chick pea bread, chick pea salad, chick pea pancakes, chick pea croquettes, chick pea cake.... -s