It is with interest - and not a little gourmand dribbling - that we note the herd of specialist steak houses mo(o)ving across the UK. Not non-descript, tourist-driven joints either. No, these are the real deal. Any chef who's worth his mustard is sharpening his Sabatier on a sirloin.
The list is long and plentiful: Gaucho Grill, Black & Blue, Goodman Steakhouse and Hawksmoor in the South through to Wildfire and Prime Cuts in Scotland; they're all focused on serving up the big and the beautiful of the beef world. Of course, the latest in this long and distinguished line-up is US super-chef Wolfgang Puck who's just opened up Cut at 45 Park Lane. He brings us the slightly artery-hardening concept of the Steak Tasting Menu (anyone longing for good old-fashioned à la carte?) - 3 small cuts of beef from across the globe, yours for £48. Otherwise take your pick from corn-fed, grass-fed, beer-massaged; Chile, New Zealand, Australia, England, USA... - all starting at around £30 a steak. Talk about cow with (globe)trotters. In fact, it seems the whole world loves a cow.
And that may be the problem. The whole world really does love a cow and it's environmental suicide. Cows contribute two-thirds of all the ammonia gas produced globally, 30% of the methane produced by Britain is produced by cattle, each one polluting just as much as a car. The developing world's growing demand for dairy and beef isn't helping and it looks like we're going to have to clear a continent just to rear cattle. Yet here we are, churning out super high-end steakhouses trumpeting the delights of every cut of cow from across the world, all of them flown in and cooked in high-energy burners to be consumed by the super rich. Anyone else see a bit of an issue?
We thought the whole idea of meat as treat quite a sustainable one. Let's eat less meat, better quality, less often. But the restaurant world, particularly those catering to the wallet-heavy, seems to be happy not to follow this, leaving their responsibilities by the wayside in pursuit of the big bucks. Something about this testosterone-fuelled gorging leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Surely there's a way for them to bring us good-quality meat without a) excluding anyone without a banker's entertainment budget and b) without costing the earth?
So clearly we have a beef. But do you? Does the idea of a good steak place make your mouth water or does it make the inner vegetarian rise up and start to chant? Is there even a solution? While there's money to spend and demand for the product, there's going to be supply, so should we be focusing on cow super-farms? Let us know what you think!
