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Steak-off at the Hawksmoor
By: A. Cuevas, Steaklovers
I’ve always thought the secret to a great tasting steak was simple. Take a big juicy rib-eye with good marbling, dry age it, season, and char-grill medium rare.
Well, when a group of us were invited to a steak tasting at Shoreditch steakhouse Hawksmoor, I found out there was more to it than that, a whole lot more.
As we got stuck into the fabulous tropical fruit punch served on arrival, hosts and owners Will Beckett & Huw Gott began explaining the 17 or so different cuts and breeds of beef we would be sampling throughout the evening, including rib-eyes, sirloins and a flatiron. All of the cuts were char-grilled medium-rare and dry aged a minimum of 28 days with the exception of cuts from butcher The Ginger Pig who supply the Hawksmoor and dry age their beef another 7 days for a total of 35.
Thankfully we were all given tasting sheets to help to make sense of this heavenly beef extravaganza.
Over the next three hours our taste buds were challenged to the ultimate steak-off, accompanied by an endless supply of Syrah (Cline Cellars, California, 2006), utterly addictive triple cooked chips, salads and wonderfully rich béarnaise sauce. After about the third (or was it fourth?) glass of wine and the 16th cut of beef things started to get a little hazy, but with trusty tasting notes in hand I managed to narrow down my favourites and found some insightful discoveries.
An interesting find was the Angus/ Charolais cross breed rib-eye from Northfield farms which had a sharp, acidic and strong, gamey character, with good bite and texture.
Least favourite of mine was the Ridings Reserve (Modern Cross breed) rib-eye. Compared to all the other breeds I found this cut to be very bland with no real character and a short finish. This may be due to the fact it was cooked a little closer to rare than medium rare – leaving most of its fat marbling unrendered and its flavour a little under-developed.
In third place was a Hereford breed rib-eye from Fairfax. A surprising cut that really stood out, most interesting for its intensely rich flavour. This cut had an almost fine Stilton or Roquefort cheese character and an extremely long finish that lingered on and on.
The no. 2 spot goes to a Longhorn breed Sirloin from the Ginger pig (Hawksmoor’s house sirloin) dry aged a minimum of 35 days. This cut was extremely well balanced, and a little sweeter on the palate with a caramel but nutty smokiness character and a medium finish. All together very well rounded – a little something for everyone in this one I thought.
I’ve always been a devotee of the rib-eye and will probably always consider myself a rib-eye man, so I hate to admit it but on this occasion it was the Hereford breed Sirloin from Northfield farms that won me over. This fine piece of beef had a good initial bite before literally melting in the mouth, with a juicy, delicate and creamy character leaving a buttery-like aftertaste. Each morsel had a medium but clean finish, leaving my mouth watering for more. I never knew sirloin could be so good… after all, where was all that great marbling steak lovers always talk about???
As I sipped on a glass of Angostura 1919 aged rum to help digest the mammoth meal, Will and Huw kindly offered us leftovers to take home, skilfully wrapped up in tin foiled carriers the chef likes to call “Prada” bags. After eating what must have been over half a kilo of beef I really thought I wouldn’t be able look at another steak, for another 2 or 3 weeks at least. Buts it’s now a day later and after writing about it, all those amazing flavours are flooding back to memory, and I really, really wish I’d taken one of those Prada bags home.
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