Regatta exploring new strategies in flavour-enhanced dry-aged steaks

COULD flavour-enhanced dry-aged beef be the following huge development within the lodge and restaurant  meals service sector?

An fascinating trial is unfolding in Brisbane this month as one of many beef capital’s best-known steak eating eating places explores a brand new preparation method, designed to infuse the smokey, complicated flavour of whiskey into dry-aged striploins being readied for service via the restaurant.

The historic Regatta Lodge Boatshed* on the Brisbane River has a minimum of 18 totally different steaks featured on its carnivore-friendly menu. About 30 % of the steak eating choices are dry-aged, housed in a big, low-humidity dry-age cupboard on show in entrance of diners.

A showcase Whiskey Beef lunch that includes the brand new infusion course of being held on 16 February bought out inside days of being posted on social media a number of days in the past. Nevertheless common Boatshed diners will be capable of pattern the whiskey-infused steaks afterwards, because the merchandise will proceed to characteristic on the restaurant menu.

Beef Central stopped off on the Regatta Boatshed yesterday to take a look at this fascinating and distinctive course of first hand.

The tallow rendering course of utilizing larder-trimmed beef fats

Underneath the method, beef fats from larder-trimmed cuts is rendered-down into a transparent tallow kind, earlier than a considerable amount of whiskey is emulsified into the liquid. The equal of half a bottle of whiskey (a mix of Scottish, American Makers and Japanese Yamazaki, every bringing its personal distinctive flavour profile) is added to every five-litre batch of liquid beef tallow.

The resultant liquid has a definite meaty, whiskey scent to it.

The tallow is stored warm-enough to not solidify, and is then ladelled over a relaxing (3 levels C) striploin primal, the place, as these images present, it shortly solidifies right into a creamy, easy ‘pores and skin.’

Three aged whiskies from Scotland, Japan and the US are used within the infusion course of

The method is repeated as much as 5 instances to build-up a protecting coating, not not like the best way wax candles are made, which helps push the whiskey flavour via the meat whereas defending it in the course of the dry-aging part.

The product then goes into the dry-age cupboard for 40 days, earlier than the solidified lard coating is eliminated and the primal trimmed and portioned into steaks for typical grilling.

The protecting coating is designed to eradicate the evaporation of the whiskey flavouring on the floor of the meat earlier than it has the possibility to completely penetrate (humidity ranges within the dry age cupboard are usually round 50pc).

A number of trial phases

Boatshed government chef Lochlan Alexander mentioned the whiskey infusion course of had gone via a number of trial phases, earlier than arriving on the present lard-coating method.

Lochlan Alexander applies the primary of a number of layers of whiskey-infused beef fats to the entire striploin. Click on on picture for a bigger view

“Initially we tried injecting a whiskey-based liquid answer instantly into the primal, much like utilizing a brining needle,” he mentioned.

“We tried wrapping that in a muslin fabric after which spritzing it with the whiskey marinade whereas within the dry getting older cupboard.

“All that is nonetheless all very a lot an experiment, however we are actually attempting this flavour-enhanced larding method,” chef Alexander mentioned.

“Dry getting older is among the speaking factors amongst diners on the Boatshed, and we’ve got modified that up just a little via this whiskey-infused course of,” he mentioned.

To his data, the flavour enhanced larding course of had not been tried on steak cuts like this earlier than in Australia.

“We all know the method will work – we’ve got accomplished comparable issues earlier than, and the whiskey flavour will switch into the meat itself after 40-days dry getting older – it’s only a matter of how a lot and the way properly,” chef Alexander mentioned. “We’re nonetheless feeling our manner in the entire course of, however we’re inspired by what we’ve realized to date.”

So why select whiskey over one other distilled or fermented alcohol for the method?

“I feel the whiskeys’ smokiness and complexity will match properly with the meat,” he mentioned, “however there is no such thing as a motive why we couldn’t additionally attempt purple wine or gin, for instance. There are such a lot of methods we may take this, if the buyer response helps it.”

He thought striploin was a greater choice to attempt the brand new course of on, reasonably than rib-eye, due to the reduce’s elongated form and bigger floor space.

“I feel we may wrestle to get the flavour penetration via a rounder rib-eye primal.”

The cooking course of for the whiskey-infused striploin on the chargrill is precisely the identical as another steak, chef Alexander mentioned.

The completed product prepared for the dry-age room

He conceded that there was extra manufacturing price concerned in producing a whiskey infused dry-aged steak, in addition to just a little extra labour and prep-time, however the lodge’s liquor suppliers had come to the occasion in serving to offset that uncooked materials price.

Consequently, the fee per serve on the Boatshed shall be stored at an approachable $55-$60, in the course of the menu’s steak value spectrum.

The concept is that patrons can have the choice to pair their whiskey-infused steak with one of many three whiskies getting used within the infusion course of.

Exploring new boundaries with steaks

JBS is the principal provider of beef to the Regatta Boatshed, starting from yearling to 150-day grainfed and Wagyu.

The product chosen for the brand new flavour-infused dry-age program ‘experiment’ is JBS Pure Prime, a 150-day grainfed, British-based product with a minimal marbling requirement of rating 3. The product is being produced out of JBS Dinmore, Beef Metropolis and Riverina (previously Rockdale) in southern NSW.

JBS enterprise improvement supervisor Denis Conroy mentioned dry getting older itself had been round now for ten 12 months or extra, however the course of being trialled on the Regatta was about pushing the bounds of what could be accomplished with high quality beef on the restaurant/steakhouse stage, in novel and fascinating methods.

This was the primary time he had heard of this course of being utilized in Australia.

“The Regatta is on the market, seeking to market and promote beef in new and alternative ways, and it is a good instance of that. We do loads of work with them for that motive – as a result of they’re main the best way in seeking to discover beef in new and novel methods. That is nice to see.”

* The Regatta Lodge’s restaurant identify, Boatshed, is derived from the precinct’s religious place as the house of schoolboy rowing in Brisbane. This author’s former boarding faculty boat shed was throughout the street from the lodge on the banks of the Toowong Attain of the Brisbane River, earlier than it was swept away within the 1974 Brisbane floods.