Pope's Eye and Other Beef Cuts
People seem to have been enjoying my tweets of the secret butchers cuts so thought I would cover them in more than 140 characters.
So you're a keen cook and looking for something different to cook other than your regular steak or stewing chuck?
There are so many hidden cuts within a whole animal carcass that only a butcher knows about.
Getting in full beef carcasses at The Butchery allows me to break down the whole beast in such a way that I get a larger range of beef cuts than your average butcher or supermarket, both of whom buy in what's known in the trade as "boxed meat"
Non standard or smaller cuts are tossed into the "trim bin" and usually minced, yes minced and sausages are real meat not all the ears and cartilage and other bits urban myths have decided. My years in butcheries and abattoirs in Australia, the UK and a brief stint in Italy whilst also having time with different chefs and a hell of a lot of my own personal research has opened my eyes to these tasty cuts and how to cook them.
Pope's Eye
Pope's Eye or Spider
My favourite cut is something with a few fun descriptive names, Pope's eye in Oz or Spider in the States and Italy due to the network of fine marbling that runs out like a spiders web within the meat
I call it the Pope's eye as it's a better definition of it's location on the beast (essentially the sphincter muscle).
Small, well marbled piece of meat that sits in the aitch bone making up part of the pelvis, it has loads of flavour and I find it as tender as any other more popular cut on the whole animal, fillet I am talking about you! When a carcass is hung for dry aging this cut is very exposed and can sometimes be unusable. Best, flash fried, season well just before throwing on a super hot grill/griddle/pan and cook to your liking as this cut can handle it. Out of a whole animal weighing in around 300kg dead weight you are lucky to get 300grms of this meat.
Tri-tip
Tri-tip
The tri-tip which you are more likely to have heard about but most people still have no idea where on the cow it comes from.
The tri-tip is an extension of the point end of the rump and is not to be confused with the picanha which is the cap of the rump and connects with the silverside. Instead this muscle runs from the point of the rump and up and over the knee. In the States commonly called the sirloin fillet due to its tenderness. The tri-tip has similar flavours and characteristics to rump, but loads more marbling running through it which helps to keep the meat succulent in cooking. This cut is great for the BBQ or grilling, but as it is thick I find it best charred on the outside then finished in a oven if you like your beef cooked anymore than medium. I often use it in a rare beef salad. Out of a whole carcass you will only get about 1.5 to 2kgs
Bolar
Bolar muscle whole
A small muscle about the size of a fist, found deep within the shoulder of a beef carcass. It is equivalent to the human bicep and is a ball of delicious, gelatinous goo. Grab this cut for all your slow cooking needs, whole or diced for stews and curries it is hard to beat. Two large tendons on each end that are sticky when cooked but ever so soft. In Asian cooking the tendons by themselves are added to soups and used in warm beef salads. Generally treat the same as a shin cut then when eating appreciate twice the amount of connective tissues that have broken down with slow cooking into a fabulously rich texture. From a whole carcass you get about 1.2kg.
Bolar Muscle cross cut
To be continued.........
Source: https://thebutcheryltd.com/blog1/cheeky-butchers-cuts-beef-part-one
0 Response to "Pope's Eye and Other Beef Cuts"
Post a Comment