Menu: Meat the cow

This Eid, experiment with different cuts of meat by following steak expert Daniel Panjwaneey’s guidelines.

This year we try to reinvent the Eid menu by introducing the quintessential steak. Follow our ultimate meat manual and prepare the feast of all feasts.

Temperature tantrums

If you’re someone who can’t tell how far along your meat is, invest in a meat thermometer. It really comes in handy. Here is an approximate guide for middle of the steak temperatures:

Rare: approximately 125 Fahrenheit

Medium-rare: approximately 130 Fahrenheit

Medium: approximately 145 Fahrenheit

Medium-well: approximately 155 Fahrenheit

Well-done: approximately 165 Fahrenheit



Expert advice

Daniel Panjwaneey, a musician and a Food and Beverage Management graduate, shares his experience in the kitchen with some guidelines for steak enthusiasts:

•  Make sure your butcher knows his cuts. Telling him you want undercut for steaks will usually result in getting a tender but flat piece of meat. Get the tender filet mignon instead.

•  Don’t buy marinated steaks; be experimental and look up a nice recipe. Beef is amazing to work with.

•  Steaks should be cooked at medium heat on the griddle/grill. For best results, charcoal grill it.

•  Overdoing it means ruining it. Also, avoid steak sauces. The secret is to keep it simple and fresh.



A cut above the rest

Some of the best restaurants in the country and the most popular steaks on their menu:

Café Flo, Karachi: The undercut steak

Covo, PC, Lahore: The rib-eye steak

Texas Steak House, Islamabad: The undercut steak



Where is my cut?

The Rib-eye: A boneless cut found from the rib section of the cow that comprises mostly the Longissimus dorsi muscle (the rib primal of the steer).

The Sirloin: A cut made from the rear back portion of the cow — the best cut being the top sirloin.

The Tenderloin: The tenderloin spans two primal cuts, the short loin and the sirloin. It is found underneath the ribs, next to the backbone.

The Undercut: Popular in Pakistan, the undercut is the tender meat of the loin muscle, found on each side of the cow’s vertebral column.

The Filet Mignon: An easily available cut on most steak menus, it is a beef fillet cut from the smaller end of the tenderloin.





Marinate Meat

•  According to Panjwaneey, to make the marinade get a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, a bit of mustard, dried or fresh herbs such as rosemary and oregano, crushed garlic, simple salt and pepper. For extra flavour, add grape and orange or lemon juice.

•  Marinate your beef for at least four hours — if not more — for best results.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, October 13^th, 2013.