'I wouldn't feed it to my dog'

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Sorry, folks. Toronto-based author Mark Schatzker says he has tasted grass-fed beef from all over, and the best isn't from Ontario.

Schatzker is the author of "Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef."

After a three-year search, he found the tastiest piece of beef was harvested from an animal finished on grass in Idaho's Pahsimeroi Valley.

Schatzker says there is something about the grass in Idaho. "That particular valley," he says, "has both volcanic and ancient seabed influences" that result in excellent grass. He prefers grass-fed beef because of its more natural flavour. While he doesn't think all grain-fed beef is bad, he laments that producers fatten grain-fed cattle too quickly and slaughter them too early at 14 to 16 months.  

"I think it's not all that beefy," he says, "and that's what people like (beefy taste). We make up for it now by using all sorts of steak sauces and steak rubs, which I really think you shouldn't need for a good steak."

Schatzker says he has tried Ontario grass-fed beef and it was all over the map – "some outstanding and some absolutely disgusting. I wouldn't feed it to my dog."

When he goes to the market to buy beef, Schatzker says he asks the producer what breed the animal was and at what age it was slaughtered. He also asks whether the animal was grazed rotationally. BF