Grass Finished Beef - Why, How and Where

Happy Wednesday!

What an absolute pleasure to be in Dublin when the sun is shining!

I got a vitalizing dip in the sea this morning at high rock in  Portmarknock during the peak of high tide.

Wow do I feel fresh!

My experiences with wild meats and grass finished beef.

I have stalked wild deer in Ireland for a little over six years, this requires you to learn to process your catch, handling and butchering wild venison.

This gave me a feel for what wild meats feel like in the flesh and of course while cooking.

So with the help of renowned chef Maryanne Reddin, I made a batch of thick juicy succulent burgers. After mincing we put straight onto the pan.

We cooked medium rare, trusting the health of the dear was top quality, and Maryanne's handling skills.
I couldn't believe how the burgers held its shape on the pan and how attractive the meet was to eat uncooked in the middle. A tasty flavor came out which we made a sauce with some butter.

In comparison to the beef I had been getting in Ireland a kind of watery residue would seep out and the attraction to have rare just wasn't there. It just didn't seem right so you instinctively cooked for longer.

So some time later while in Melbourne I came across T.O.M.S organic butcher in the South Melbourne market. He said the meat was completely rared on organic grass and importantly grass finished. To be frank I hear a lot about organic food and with a filtering system of,' I ll judge for myself bud'. I nodded and bought some mince which he insisted on saying it was minced in the last hour and to try the lamb necks in a soup.

So I rocked on home and prepared some thick burgers, I was shocked by the density of the meat, IT FELT LIKE DEER MEAT!

While cooking I sensed it was cooked to which I ate rare/blue in the middle. Boy God was it tasty!

So since then while in the states I tasted Joel Salitins of Polyface Farm, beyond organic minced beef and HEY PRESTO the same density was in the meat.

So back in Dublin I had a dilemma, I searched for organic meat and tasted a few and to be honest it just wasn't the same. Similarly to conventional beef found in every butcher shop it just didn't have the density of the wild meat or in examples of TOMs in Melbourne and Polyface Farms in US.

I consulted Beef Gura Niall Davidson of Beef Cartel in London to which he described, that beef is simply not just beef, it comes down to the breading, the environment and the balance of mixed grasses and plants that are in the beasts diet. I attended one of his Beef Cartel events which similarly again the meet was denser, so much more tasty and cooked with primal traditional methods methods. I will go into much more detail in another blog post when I interview Niall.
But to summarize, the beef was of the Highlander Bread native to the Scottish Highlands which foraged for its food in natural evironments.

So my dilemma continued until I found farmer Joe Condon of Omega Beef based in West Waterford.
I asked master hunter JJ Devine, and butcher Conor Hammersly to join me to get a balance of questions to Joe.

Joe has a heard of primarily Belted Galloways with some Speckle Park cattle.

Joe believes in a system of very low labor farming which allows him to lead his lifestyle and be the one that decides his own hours. For the farmer who always complains about not having time and complains about spending thousands on fertilizer each year Joe is the real deal out lier for alternative ways.

Joe has his heard forage for food in common-age land in the Knockmealdown mountain range in West Waterford.

It is quiet a vast area of land the heard have to cover to forage for their daily nutritional needs.

I interviewed Joe while he showed us around his salad bar of mixed greens which for the final few weeks before slaughter they enjoy the cream de the crem of the land.

Joe slaughters an animal once every two weeks and ships direct to his costumers. Joe believes in sustainable farming with which he won't put too many animals on the land.
He ships in boxes designed specifically for transporting meat to ensure top quality to his customers.

You can find the interview with myself, JJ Conor and Joe with the links below.

I got a box from Joe which I am now only half way through, I can't recommend highly enough. It cooks very different to conventional beef so be sure to research first, as the flavors and density are very comparable to TOMs and Joel Salitins which I would most definitely not say lightly.
Part One
Part Two
(.m4a format download and play)

You can order Joe's produce from his website Omega Beef Direct here, (Ireland Only) I recommend asking for bone morrow to grill on the BBQ and off course make amazing stock.

Remember its the health of the soil that reflects the health the food is grown from.

Thank you to JJ and Conor for assisting with interview and Joe for being so welcoming to his farm.

If you have a product that you think will meat my standards, drop me a mail to discuss a visit.
lorcan@modernhealthycaveman.com

Enjoy the week!

Lorcan