Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tasties Piece of Beef - Hardcover

Schatzker, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1859649025 ISBN 13: 9781859649022

Publisher: Periscope (2015-11-12), 1656

Synopsis

Questing for the perfect cut of beef, award-winning food and travel writer Mark Schatzker embarks on an odyssey to four continents, travelling thousands of miles across eight countries and working his way through more than 100 lbs of steak prepared according to dozens of techniques. The result is an impassioned, funny and remarkably enlightening study of steak and its discontents as well as its many delights.Schatzker begins with a Proustian moment, a lovingly remembered morsel from his past. He goes on to explore beef myths and esoterica. Does marbling matter more than breed? Is a stressed animal less tasty? How does one read cow pies? Can umami be described accurately? Schatzker compares corn-fed to grass-fed ribeyes in Texas, ogles Angus bulls in Scotland and savours the famed Kobe beef of Japan. Lessons from each steak-conscious territory build upon those from the last, underscoring his major concern: do modern practices of commercial breeding and production sacrifice quality for quantity? Schatzker's inquisitive mind and comedic sense of timing keep his prose as lively as it is informative.As he aims for a unifying theory of steak, he even begins to raise his own cows for slaughter, leading him to a Zen-like revelation: the secret to great steak is, simply, great steak.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Schatzker is an award-winning writer based in Toronto. He is a radio columnist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a frequent contributor to publications such as Slate, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, Conde Nast Traveler and Bloomberg Pursuits. His latest book is The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor.

From Publishers Weekly

Slate columnist Schatzker's journey through more than 100 pounds of steak begins with a single, fondly remembered bite from his past and takes him, years later, to eight countries on four continents in pursuit of flavorful beef. Chapter by Dionysian chapter he probes the myths and minutiae of tasty beef. Does marbling (the small white dots and curls of fat spread throughout a steak's red flesh) matter more than breed? Is a stressed animal less tasty? Can words accurately describe the flavor of beef? In Texas, Schatzker compares corn-fed to grass-fed rib-eyes; Scotland is mostly about the Angus bulls, while Japan provides the lure of its famed kobe and Wagyu beef. Lessons from each new location build upon those from the last, underscoring his major concern: do modern practices of commercial breeding and production sacrifice quality for quantity? Schatzker writes with a discerning eye, an inquisitive mind, and a comedic sense of timing that keeps both shop talk (reading cow pies), and the esoteric (the mysteries of umami) from numbing readers' minds. On the way to a unifying theory of steak, Schatzker even raises his own cows for slaughter, leading him to the Zen-like revelation that the secret to great steak is great steak. No matter. Steak is easily one of the most entertaining and informative noncookbooks about beef. (June)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Periscope (2015-11-12)
• Publication date: 1656
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1859649025
• ISBN 13: 9781859649022
• Binding: Hardcover