The best pieces for the grill

Eringer beef steak with rosemary and lime butter. (Image: Pius Amrein)

From storage to pleasure: beef needs special care. Especially "pampered" is the rib-eye steak. It comes from the back of beef and is considered the "steak of connoisseurs". The "eye" is the piece of fat in the middle of the steak. The eye is also the reason why, in this room, the preferred cooking level is not bleeding, but rather average. Reason: With its scarcity, the fat cooks so well that it looks like the marrow of a bone marrow.

From Aberdeen Angus to Wagyu – for gourmets, it's the name that resonates bovine breeds. But Switzerland does not need to hide: here too, there is something special, like a rib eye of the cattle Eringer of Valais, which I have recently been allowed to try. The meat made me curious.

It was a fun phone conversation with butcher master Willy Stocker of Gampel-Bratsch. Storing is one of the few Eringer meat sellers. "But tell your readers that you should not order fillets and steaks.As a cook, you know that each animal has only two fillets and two steaks."

Rejected, estimated today.

Eringer is one of the smallest recognized breeds in Switzerland. They are preserved practically only in the Valais and Valle d'Aosta and are characterized by their stocky "design". Almost all year, cows are kept in pastures, so they always have access to spicy mountain grasses. Especially in the 19th century, the race was criticized for lack of "productivity". Today, Eringer still appreciated. Their meat is considered a delicacy, especially dried meat.

That it behaves from Eringer or other breeds: For beef, a shelf life of at least four weeks applies. "Bones on the bone" is back in fashion. You should never extract the meat pieces sucked directly from the bag, but let them breathe in fresh air for at least three to four hours. You can also find pieces of meat in a "protective atmosphere" filled with oxygen and carbon dioxide. This inhibits the growth of unwanted microorganisms and the oxygen content makes the meat red. Ask your butcher the advantages and disadvantages of all these methods.

Compulsory: smoke hot oil

A perfect piece must always be marbled, so it must be crossed by small grinding stones. This guarantees juiciness. Bright red is the flesh of young, dark red animals of older animals. Yes, the Stocker butcher says, "And then you need the art of frying."

Here I work again as a chef. My roast beef lessons started in the Bernese "Schweizerhof". But what I had already learned in the "Stifti": The oil – preferably the peanut oil, while the olive oil is unsuitable – had to smoke hot. A small smoker should rise. It was not until then that the fillets, steaks and rib eye were fried. Because of the tasty "cherries". Then fry for about a minute or a little longer, depending on the thickness of the steak on each side. Or grill. Seasoning is allowed with salt and pepper before or after. Then remove the meat from the skillet and let it rest in the oven on a plate preheated to about 80 degrees for about ten minutes

No blood, but muscular coloring

What you need to know: The juice that s? exhausts is definitely not Blood, but myoglobin muscle pigment, which changes depending on the cooking level from dark red (blue) to clear (well cooked). I usually add this juice to pepper or cream sauce or homemade béarnaise. The roast meat is not noble witchcraft, however, something emotional and exercise already.

http://www.metzgereistocker.com/Eringer.html