Central Coast Center of The Plate Ride Along 2008

What a fantastic day selling. Every now and then you come across something that is a unique and high quality product.

I remember back to the days I was in the butcher shop and we began carrying the Rocky the Range chickens. At the time, probably around 1987 or 1988 when we began carrying them they were the first commercially available free range chicken.

Today I rode with Debora Feron-Sanchez from Bay Brokerage and David Taylor from Eddy Packing the processor of Heartland brand Akaushi Beef.

Akaushi Beef is a breed of cattle from Japan that were moved here in 1994. The cattle are unique in the fact that they are low in saturated fat and high in mono-unsaturated fat. They also have a high level of Conjugated Linoleic Acid, the most aggressive anti-carcinogens ever discovered.

As we opened packages and viewed the product we found the meat to be extremely well marbled. In fact the beef regularly grades several times higher than prime. In the Japanese grading system it is a consistent grade 7. Feeling the raw product was interesting as the tenderness was apparent when you held it.

At the Beach and Tennis Club with Chef Benjamin Brown we sampled the raw product and then prepared it grilled on the char-broiler to rare. The flavor of the 6 oz tenderloins both ways was amazing. The tenderloin is usually found to be the most tender cut, but the beefy flavor of this product was incredible. Personally, I have never had such a favorable filet.

While we had fun all day cutting this product, it was really funny when one of the chefs realized that the well marbled Ribeye he thought he was looking at was identified as a strip loin.

Pat Ottone, the owner of Lallapalooza and the new LallaGrill cooked up an Akaushi Ribeye and was very impressed. Look to see a $100 steak added to the LallaGrill in the near future.