A Big Day

I'm not sure if any of you look at the tracking counter on the lower right hand side of the site. If you do, you will have noticed that the first number in the tracking went from a 1 to a 2 in the space of a day.

Thanks to the magic of MetaFilter and the kind interest of username Fizz who wrote a post for said MetaFilter on Sezmu Beef, Okanagan Daily Special recieved 1198 page loads and 1089 unique visitors. In one day.

Fizz also has a wonderful blog of his own called Whitesnails. Do visit, if for no other reason than the skinwich.

Now, what does this all mean? Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I think it means that there is interest in wine fed beef--which is grown in Oliver, which is in the Okanagan (here.)

My sadness, however, is that there is no nearby processing plant. Before the cows become beef, they must take a fairly long drive in a truck. No drinking and driving permitted! A local processing plant would mean a truly local diet for the Okanagan. 100 mile diet? Pfft! Who needs to go 100 miles when you live in a future version of the Okanagan where there is a local processing plant that served the agricultural community (citizenry) of the region.

Now if only someone would finally start making some Okanagan grape seed oil...but that's another post for another time.

The Red Wine Beef Debate: Resolution...YES!!!

After reading much on the debate of the new Semznu Meats "red wine beef" topic, I felt it was time to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

On the food inc. website there was a heated debate going on about the ethics of the red wine beef product being offered up here in our backyard, Oliver B.C. Although I could not help but get caught up in the online debate, that is not what today was about. I wanted to do a side by side comparison of the Sezmu Beef to the AAA Alberta Beef that I currently have on the menu. Now I picked the Flat Iron Steak for no other reason than that is what I alredy use on a daily basis. For those not in the know, the flat iron is a cut from under the shoulder blade of the cow, it is a muscle that gets a fair bit of exercise and therefore develops a good amount of flavor. The flat iron still maintains an acceptable tenderness to be a good grilling steak.

As you can see there is already a distinct difference. The Sezmu Beef flat iron is on the left and the AAA Alberta Beef flat iron on the right. The flesh of the Sezmu beef is much darker and deeper in the Sezmu and there is a remarkable difference in the fat marbling. To be fair I will let you know that the Alberta beef was from cryovac and the Sezmu came in wrapped as if by a supermarket meat department. The cryovac may have affected the AAA beef somewhat, but by looking at this photo I think we can all agree there is a big difference between the two meats regardless.

I did try to keep the variables the same in cooking the meats to see how the two products would react to the exact same circumstances. Both steaks are cut to 170g portion size, and were cooked side by side in the same pan for the same length of time.

Once again, there were some signifigant differences with the two products. At first glance you can see that the yield and juice retention of the Sezmu Beef is much greater than the AAA. As the two meats rested, the AAA Beef bled almost a tablespoon of juice and the Sezmu a fraction of that. As before the Sezmu Meat is on the left.

Okay, so I had already made up my mind by this point...I was really hoping that the local red wine beef would be a superior product to my AAA standby, but I was really not prepared for this much of a difference. When it comes to beef the Alberta AAA is no slouch. A picture is worth a thousand words.

This photo gives a much better visual of the yield and juice retention of the superior Sezmu product. In a blind tasting six of six employees in the kitchen preferred the Sezmu meat.

As for the flavor, the Sezmu meat had a richness that encompassed the palate so much that the AAA beef could not compare. the Sezmu had a buttered corn on the cob flavor to the meat...noo...if you had slathered some rendered beef fat onto some fresh corn with a mouthful of beef. Hmmm...maybe still not quite right. Anyway it was very enjoyable and made the AAA pale in comparison to my tastebuds.

Now there is obviously no wine flavoring to the meat, and it is a tough call to decide whether it is the wine or the extra attention these cattle receive that makes the difference. I do recommend that you try this test for yourself if you are still not convinced. Heck try a different cut and let me know how it works out. I know that I will be changing my beef supplier tomorrow to the local artisanal option.

Oh, I almost forgot...the price is almost the same!

Happy Eating...

R.

Of Farms and The Lesson Of PIGFOOT

Hot on the heels (trotters?) of Sean's success linked to innovation, everyone's friends at the New York Times posted this article about the close knit relationship between farms and restaurants.

From the article:

And increasingly, small-farm success is linked to innovation. “The fun is trying something new — when a chef says to me, can you grow it?” said Richard Ball, the owner of Schoharie Valley Farms in Schoharie, N.Y., for the last 17 years. “I try six new things every year. To grow higher-end and many different crops — well, it’s survival for us. That is how we stay alive.”

I won't harp too long on this one, but I'm having a harder and harder time coming to grips with the fact that there is a feed lot right here in the South Okanagan and yet there is no local beef in the restaurants of the South Okanagan.

Not to disparage 6 new and different types of onions or rutabagas or whatever, but what if farmers regularly brought out a new breed of pig or cow for our consideration? Would that stunt the restaurant industry? Would that cripple our local agriculture/hospitality economy or would the synergistic relationship between the two sectors benefit everyone?

Maybe Mangalista tastes no different than your average Jimmy Dean (tm) oinker and Wagyu is tastes no different than your average Ray A. Kroc satan burger made of dethkulture ground. Maybe people aren't interested, and can't tell the difference. Maybe people, when told of a special featuring a braised, breaded, fried pigs foot stuffed with pig cheek they actually heard "chicken sandwich" and didn't notice when PIGFOOT arrived at the table, 13 times, in the space of an hour.

In the off chance if there is a difference, and everyone who comes to dine in the Okanagan isn't an uncultured rube idiot, and "we" are predisposed to celebrate heirloom varieties of plants, why not heirloom animals?

Oh, and don't forget innovation. Apparently success is linked to it.

Of Wine and Beef

Wine Beef. Okanagan's Finest.



While there's no sign of any reply to Sean's query, which is a pity, I did get to eat some of this Wine Beef a.k.a. Okanagan's Finest.



Though the jus does not taste like wine, the beef (and the jus) was quite red and quite delicious.

The roast was an eye of round. The last time I cooked an eye of round, I made boliche. It wasn't super delicious, mostly because I'm not a very good cook. It was a little dry--which isn't totally unusual for that cut. Not a lot of fat there.

This wine beef roast, made by Syl, cooked on the bar-b-que with a mustard crust, was not dry at all. It had a wonderful texture and a deep, vivid taste--from the well cooked ends to the more rare middle.

They know a thing or two about cooking a roast at the feed lot, so I got to taste Okanagan's Finest under optimal conditions. Sadly there wasn't a "regular" eye of round roast against which to compare the Wine Beef, but I'd say there's a difference.



Now all we need is a local abattoir...

Settle In, Because We're Going To Be Talking About This A Lot

First of all, everyone does realise there is a feed lot in the South Okanagan, right? You know, a place where they grow beef?

You also probably know that for a while, there was an abattoir in the South Okanagan as well...not to far from the feed lot. And by abattoir, I mean a place where people--anyone--who grew beef (or pork or lamb or hogget or mutton or chevon or cabrito) could have it processed and packaged.

Due to government regulations, about which much will be said in the coming posts, that slaughter facility no longer exists. The feed lot (the place where the beef is grown) is now without an abattoir (the place where the beef is harvested and packaged for consumption.) What should (and could) be an entirely functional system, providing economic opportunity to farmers and a competitive edge to the restaurant industry in the Okanagan, is now broken. I don't know for sure where the nearest slaughter facility is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't between Osoyoos and Vernon.

We'll get deeper into that as time goes on. For now, here's an article about a mobile slaughter facility.

Once you've read that, here's an article about the demand for local beef, to the tune of $8 a pound for brisket. While I think that's as much a reflection of the lunacy of what New Yorkers are willing to pay for things as it is a deep seated biological desire for artisan beef, it's probably safe to say that no matter what, the sale of local beef at the farmers market would generate a lot more income for the farmers growing it than, say, zucca melons or knitted polyester yarn pot holders. It's probably also safe to say that if the restaurant economy of the Okanagan became known for their local, sustainable, inventive beef (pork, lamb, hogget, mutton, chevon, cabrito) offerings, it might attract even more attention than it does now.

Everyone knows "in house" is the way to go. "Local" too. Besides, shouldn't we be rehearsing for when the trucks stop running?

Some questions:

1. Would you go to your local farmers market more or less often if you knew you could get artisan beef that was grown and processed in Oliver?

2. Why isn't there a co-op meat locker in the Okanagan, where meat can be hung for as long as desired?

3. Why isn't there a co-op slaughter facility in the Okanagan?

4. Would a co-op slaughter facility/meat locker be an asset or liability to the farmers and restaurant economy in the Okanagan?

5. Would a thriving artisan beef economy married to a thriving local, independent restaurant economy be an asset or liability to the economy of the greater Okanagan valley?

So many questions! And I really am asking. Let's tease this out and return functionality to the system!