The importance of contrast.͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
| | | | | | | | | I recently went out to eat at a really nice Japanese restaurant with close friends and I came to a startling realization: I’m not a big fan of Wagyu beef. This Wagyu, mind you, was by all accounts some of the best you can get in the world. The chef cooked it in front of you on a big gleaming Teppanyaki grill—a giant slab of steel. He handled everything with the utmost care, wielding his cooking implements with great precision and delicateness. A real show. But the meat itself was simply too uniformly marbled for my tastes. They advertise the ability to cut into your steak with just a fork as something to be praised. However, while technically impressive, it’s just not what I want from my meat. When I want steak, I want meat. I want the protein, the B vitamins, and the chew. Sure, I like marbling but marbling is only powerful in contrast to the lean. We love the marbled steak because it is relatively rare. At some point, Wagyu beef ceases to be a piece of meat and becomes a piece of fat. One of my favorite cuts is the New York strip and the best part of it is that end piece. The pointy end—that super marbled collagenous piece of steak riddled with soft chewy fat and fascia. It melts in the mouth and it’s the perfect bite. But it’s perfect because it sits in stark contrast to the rest of the steak which is relatively lean and firm with a prominent fat cap that you can consume or omit, if you prefer. If the entire strip were just like that end piece, it wouldn’t be as good. Life is about the contrasts. It’s about the sweet and sour or the bitter and spicy. It’s about spending all day in the snow trekking, snowshoeing, and snowboarding with your muscles aching, lungs burning, fingertips frozen, and then coming back to the warm cabin, a raging fire, a hot cup of coffee and a warm bath. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my Wagyu beef just fine. It was a good experience. It was tasty. But it was too much and it would’ve been way better if they had served it alongside leaner cuts like large pieces of New York strip, fillet, or even sirloin. Wagyu steak is all unceasing opulence. Far better is bouncing back and forth between luxury and struggle. Do you agree, folks? Do you prefer the contrasts? Let me know in the comment section of New and Noteworthy. |
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Mark's Daily Apple 1101 Maulhardt Ave. Oxnard, CA 93033 |
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