tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post4036531062263521198..comments2022-11-09T06:57:27.904-08:00Comments on Eating Every Day: New Sammy'sCharles Sherehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post-40847452875984557402011-03-11T22:22:20.085-08:002011-03-11T22:22:20.085-08:00My understanding is that true Kobe beef are someho...<i>My understanding is that true Kobe beef are somehow massaged, at least to some extent; that they are fattend on beer- or sake-fermentation byproducts among other things; that they refer to a specific breed of animal; and that they are highly fat-marbled: for further on all this, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef" rel="nofollow"> Wikipedia</a>. I myself am not attracted to highly fat-marbled beef, and have found Kobe or Wagyu-style beef unpleasantly mushy in texture.<br /><br />But, yes, a healthy animal does get exercise; and, yes, these days at least any animal permitted to be healthy could be said to be pampered.<br /><br />I share your assumption in re. supermarket provender, and avoid it. As to affordability, the three-course prix—fixe dinner at New Sammy's was forty-five dollars on Wednesday night, which I consider affordable. The lamb scraps I bought at a farmstand last Sunday cost me six bucks for two pounds, and supplied our principal meal on two days, to balance out New Sammy's. Eating healthfully takes a little more time and forethought, but I think not necessarily much more money. And a healthy life is worth paying for; weakness and sickness are costly.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post-65756126465059240972011-03-11T14:01:37.531-08:002011-03-11T14:01:37.531-08:00When we were in Kyoto in the 1980's, we were a...When we were in Kyoto in the 1980's, we were able to afford--because of the severely undervalued Yen at that time--a brilliant Kobe beef dinner at one of the top three restaurants there (yet it still cost us, in 1985 dollars, I think, $185 for three). <br /><br />It was brought to us in a huge bowl, and it was indeed soft enough not to require a knife to cut. The taste was magnificent as advertised. <br /><br />I'm not aware of what they actually do to the cows, but the scuttlebutt was that they "massaged" the cows or something--? Pampered in some way, I imagine. Is a healthy animal exercised, or pampered? <br /><br />I assume that nearly everything I get from supermarkets these days has been treated chemically at some stage of its life. I think that's prudent--I don't mean the chemicals, but the assumption that they do. <br /><br />Can we "afford" to eat "clean" food anymore?Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post-80218344979335251252011-03-10T10:45:13.967-08:002011-03-10T10:45:13.967-08:00This steak was local, sustainable, grass-fed, and ...<i>This steak was local, sustainable, grass-fed, and very delicious indeed. I've heard good things about the Black Angus chain, but I don't like to eat meat the details of whose feeding and treatment I don't know. I'm not particularly doctrinaire, but having grown up among farm animals I'm a little sensitive to their treatment, and having somewhat compromised health I'm concerned about hormone and antibiotic treatment. Then too, I no longer particularly like corn-finished beef, and am totally uninterested in the Japanese techniques.<br /><br />The secrets to great beef, like any red meat, are 1) healthy animals; 2) proper butchering treatment (including aging where appropriate); 3) judicious salting in advance of cooking. At least that's how I see it.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post-13812066408401986072011-03-10T08:53:13.443-08:002011-03-10T08:53:13.443-08:00Some years back, a companion and I ate at a Black ...Some years back, a companion and I ate at a Black Angus franchise, somewhere along the Oregon NS turnpike, on the way home from Seattle and Portland. My companion is not a connoisseur of any description, and probably thought this a good choice, whereas I was filled with apprehension.<br /><br />Nonetheless, the big steaks we both had were magnificent. The baked potato and overcooked broccoli were nothing special, but the meat was several times better than I've had for six times the price and many "finer" restaurants over the years. <br /><br />Go figure.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4406252458975415348.post-78400908018615019902011-03-10T04:28:10.378-08:002011-03-10T04:28:10.378-08:00Ah, Charles. We TRIED for years to go to dinner at...Ah, Charles. We TRIED for years to go to dinner at New Sammy's and never managed to make it - it was either closed, the timing was wrong, or we were just too poor. Someday, someday...Steven Pattersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15916765956554222253noreply@blogger.com