and shakes his or her head? The system is still too cumbersome and anything but user-friendly.

But let’s make the best of it.

Read the label

All meat labels today include three names—the first one gives you the kind of animal the

meat comes from, the second is the primal (also called wholesale) cut from which that piece

come and the third is the specific name of the cut. For instance, in beef top round, beef is the

animal species, round is the primal cut and top is a specific cut of the round muscle. If it is

ground meat, the butcher only has to specify the kind of animal and the maximum fat content.

Meat labels also include the grade of meat, that gives us an indication of its quality.

Understanding meat labels is important, but it is also helpful to know how a certain cut is

named. Decades of selective breeding and scientifically controlled feeding have developed

animals that can potentially produce a superb piece of meat. An animal specifically bred for its

meat is genetically a much better source for steak, for example, than a dairy cow too old to meet

her quota of daily milk production anymore. The sex of the animal also influences meat qualities.

Well-fed and well-managed animals provide meat superior to that of poorly cared-for animals.

Many of these factors contribute to the final stamp the meat grader assigns to and rolls on the

fresh carcass in purple ink.

Aging meat

Should you roast the meat of a freshly-slaughtered animal, you would get a tough,

flavorless, nearly inedible meal, at least by today's standards. That is partly due to tightening of

the muscles after death, which don't relax for at least 24 hours. When our prehistoric ancestors

roasted a freshly-slaughtered pig or deer, they knew that they have to do it quickly before the

muscles tightened or wait until they relaxed. But they also knew about aging meat for optimum

flavor. They hung fresh meat for days to dry and age before cooking. Even chuck wagon cooks

on Texas ranches wrapped fresh-slaughtered beef in canvas and hung it on a tree for several

days.

Aging improves both flavor and tenderness. The higher the fat content, the more benefit

you gain by aging. Although nearly all meat benefit from this process, beef benefits the most. In

fact, unaged beef is not very good. What does aging do to the meat? A complex series of

chemical processes alter proteins and fats and develop flavor compounds that, in some meats,

grant the full meat flavor. Tough connective tissues also change slightly, gradually softening

with aging. In the meantime, while the aging meat loses 12 to 15 percent of its total moisture, the

flavors concentrate.

While all these chemical changes are taking place, the tight muscles continue to relax for

about six days. The aging for a good-quality beef is at least 10 to 15 days, and for lamb is a

week. Aging beef for an even better flavor may continue up to about six weeks.

While studying aging of beef, researchers cut and cooked steaks within three hours after

slaughter. An experienced tasting panel described the flavor as sour, metallic, astringent, and not

recognizable as beef. After aging the beef for a day they cut and cooked similar steaks that now

the tasters recognized as beef, but they still complained about its astringent taste. Only after eight

days of aging did it taste to them as a true beef steak.

Serious Kitchen Play