[Sca-cooks] Beef Bafflement article

[Sue Clemenger]

*snort*....We're about the same age, I think.  I got it in Jr High, and I'd
been cooking since I was 6.  We had a teacher who thought salt and pepper
were plenty seasoning enough for some gawdawful hamburger/macaroni dish we
were making.  Back in 1973, in my hometown, girls were actually NOT allowed
to take shop.  or electronics.  or woodwork.  or auto shop.  All things of
real, practical value that would have stood me in good stead as an adult
(especially since I already knew how to cook and sew).
My mother used to tell a story about her "Home Ec" class, and how much they
ALL hated the teacher.  Apparently, they had to make sugar cookies one time,
and to get back at her, they used salt instead of sugar.  The teacher found
out, somehow, and made the class eat them.  <shudders>
I will openly and freely admit to making use of those handy stickers on beef
packages.  I'm not that educated in the finer points of meat cuts.  When I
was making beef/barley soup for Crown Tourney last weekend, I bought beef
that was intended for use as pot roast, figuring that a good, long simmer in
the soup pot would tenderize the beef, and give good flavor.  Besides, it
was quite a bit cheaper than the pre-cut "stewing beef."
--Maire, looking forward to Easter Brunch tomorrow....mmmmmm

----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Fox" <selene at earthlink.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beef Bafflement article


> > I know I've been seeing little stickers on meat packaging [sometimes]
> > for years now, advising the buyer to broil, saute, or braise, based
> > on the primary cut. It always seemed like a good idea to me as a sort
> > of minimalist measure of education for the clueless: you have to
> > figure that after seeing enough labels that say something like, "beef
> > chuck: pot roast or stew", the buyer will eventually know this stuff
> > to some extent. Maybe they won't be able to identify or locate the
> > one little muscle in the chuck from which chicken steaks are cut,
> > that doesn't need moist heat (random example; whatever), but they
> > will have a fair sense that they shouldn't broil a slice from the
> > shank or boil a porterhouse steak for three hours.
> >
> > Adamantius
> >
>
> Agreed.  They cover this in the article:
>
>     "One strategy is consumer-friendly labeling, said Kent Harrison, group
> brand manager for premium beef programs at Cargill Meat Solutions in
> Wichita. Packages show if a cut is right for the grill or best as a pot
> roast, or if a grade of ground beef is best for hamburger patties or
> Hamburger Helper. The labels often have recipes."
>
> This is probably likely to do the most actual good.  It's not like the
> educational system is going to take up the challenge.  I think I was of
the
> last generation of young girls to be required to take Cooking class in
> middle school.  [Yes, I was the perfect little Hermione, having been
cooking
> for more than half my life already...but I'd rather have taken shop where
I
> could have learned something NEW.]
>
> Selene