Text 1362, 74 rader
Skriven 2008-01-25 22:19:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Outlaw food 2
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Our main course was a great rib-eye beef that had been dry-aged for
more than five weeks. It had a generous coating of white moulds
growing on the outside. Known as "bloom", these form naturally
during traditional dry-ageing when meat, generally beef, is hung at
just above freezing point for anything from a week to over a month.
During this period it loses moisture, enzymes tenderise the muscles,
the sugars turn to lactic acid and, if allowed to grow, the moulds
change the flavour of the meat.

The meat was glorious. It was deep red and had a minerality from
being aged on the bone. It was tender but still robust and moist
from the first chew to the last.

This rib-eye was flown down by a guest, an expert in the beef
industry, from a butcher in Sydney. Beef aged in conditions that
allow it to grow a bloom is not sold legally in Victoria, he
explained. Some do so on threat of having their licence to sell meat
revoked. NSW butchers operate under a different law and a different
meat licensing authority.

"So selling meat like this beautiful beef in Victoria is banned, but
the multinationals can still pump out burgers to fatten up our
kids!" our supplier pronounced, slamming down his glass on the table
in a burst of invective.

A shoulder of lamb arrived next. It came from a sheep killed on the
farmer's property, an act allowed under the 1993 Meat Industry Act.
However, even though our farmer did not sell the meat, he did break
the law by taking the meat off his property. "That's f---ing
bullshit!" he roared. "It's my lamb and I'll do what I like with it.
This is good stuff. This animal," he pointed to the large roast
shoulder on the table, "didn't go through the stress of watching its
flock being killed at the abattoir," he explained. "It was in the
paddock, I pulled out the 22 (.22 calibre rifle). And then it was
dead."

Ours was a particularly sweet and meaty animal. "This tastes like
'real' lamb," said the winemaker. "Like the lamb we used to have."

The cheesemakers had been sitting quietly at the end of the table.
Their contribution to the dinner was sitting silently under an old
lamp. On a simple plate was a ring of goat's cheese - made with raw
goat's milk. "Under the Australian Food Standards Code, section
1.62, it is a requirement that all milk and milk products to be sold
for human consumption, must be pasteurised at 72 degrees for 15
seconds," said one of the cheesemakers.

This cheese was created from the first milk of the spring - a time
when many of the grasses were in flower. Like the raw milk that
preceded the meal, the raw-milk goat's cheese was a very different
cheese to its pasteurised cousin. It was a white mould cheese that
had been allowed to mature to form a wrinkled skin with a very soft
layer directly underneath and a delicate centre. Some guests claimed
they could taste the spring flowers.

Not long after, a bottle of grappa, or distilled wine, was opened.
"This was made by an old Italian mate of mine who keeps his still
hidden inside his hay stack when he's not using it," our host said.

"I can hear a siren," our hostess suddenly whispered dramatically.
"Quick, everybody! Back fence!" she cried. "It's the Food Police!"
The room erupted with laughter. "Can the Food Police send us to
Guantanamo for eating raw-milk cheese?" asked someone cheekily.
"No," was the reply. "But they can if you sell it."


Cheers

YK Jim


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