FSR August 2023

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comes from and I want to know exactly how it was raised.’” Meat Standards Australia ( ), the country’s USDA-equivalent grading sys tem, takes into account specific attri butes associated with pasture-raised cat tle to provide a reliable framework for verifying and predicting the quality of grass-fed beef. MSA also serves as a tool for producers to optimize their practices, which Huebschmann says has resulted in an overall better-tasting product. “We found the Australian product tasted cleaner, and it didn’t leave that metallic aftertaste you get sometimes with grass-fed beef,” he says. “ at has to do with the environment and the quality of the grass that the animals consume.” McCallum shares a similar sentiment, describing the Australian grass-fed beef as “mind bogglingly delicious for being 100 percent grass-fed.” Jacobs & Co. also sources grass-fed beef from Argentina and from local farmers in Toronto. The full-spec trum approach creates opportunities to engage with guests and explain the di erences between the various grass fed options, as well as the di erences between grain-fed and grass-fed beef. Grain-fed beef tends to have a milder avor with a more tender and buttery texture. Grass-fed typically is leaner and chewier with a more grassy, earthy, and gamier taste. McCallum says it often is the least expensive option, which means people frequently order it by default, even if they’re unfamiliar with what it means in terms of avor and texture. “ ere’s a lot of explaining to guests that it isn’t necessarily your typical ten der and juicy steak,” he says. “That’s something you lose when you’re going with a product that’s more natural. On the other hand, it has more of a bite to it. It has a very unique avor pro le. When you start getting really speci c about where it comes from and what it ate, then you start getting closer to a true representation of what grass-fed can be, which is equal if not sometimes bet ter than grain-fed. A lot of people really enjoy it, so there’s certainly a lot of value in having it around.”

GUESTS AT JACOBS & CO. CAN CHOOSE FROM A VARIETY OF GRASS-FED STEAKS, INCLUDING DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED OPTIONS.

“I like to have the menu read like a wine list. Do you prefer California Cab or Bordeaux? Angus from Kansas or from Scotland? It’s all about the terroir in these cases.”

LAUREN MILLER

Grass-fed beef also resonates at Gib sons Italia, the company’s modern Ital ian steakhouse in Chicago, where the menu is designed to promote explora tion. Guests are encouraged to share steaks with their table and compare the avors and textures associated with dif ferent types of beef. Gibsons Restaurant Group rst got into the grass-fed beef game when Gib sons Italia was in the R&D stage. Hueb schmann wanted to o er a more diverse selection of steaks beyond the grain-fed domestic prime the company was known for. “We vetted out domestic cuts, and we vetted out Australian cuts. There really was no competition,” he says. “It would’ve been great to stay domestic on this, but when you’re talking about nd ing 100 percent grass-fed beef with all of the things people are looking for—free

range, no added hormones, no antibiot ics—there’s no competing with Australia.” It can be a challenge for chefs in the U.S. to source true grass-fed beef. Carrie Carter Balkcom, executive director of the American Grass-Fed Association, says some domestic beef products labeled as grass-fed may come from animals that were fed a combination of grass and grain or had limited access to pasture. “ e problem is that the labeling laws are so lax that we’re not really sure if peo ple are serving grass-fed or if they’re serving something they’re being told is grass-fed,” she says. “ e USDA allows meat that is brought in from o shore– which you have no clue how it was pro duced–to be labeled as grass-fed. It’s allowed to be labeled as a product of the U.S.A. if it’s repackaged here in any way. at means chefs really have to stand up and say, ‘I want to know where this

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AUGUST 2023