Canarsie

On a trip to Europe, I noticed a plethora of restaurants touting Argentine beef and steaks.

I have never tried Argentine beef, as I think I will wait until I am able to get to Argentina one day to sample the genuine article.

I was wondering if anybody has tried both Argentine beef and American beef? If so, which is better — or, at least, what are the differences? What makes Argentine beef distinctive?

Analise

I'm sure it depends on the grade.

7E7

Wouldn't Argentinian beef be American beef, it is from the Americas after all.

Using thsoe terms is to general as both the USA and Argentina are large countries with the beef from one area having different qualities from another.

But why deabte if either these has better beef, Alberta beef is the best!

Sweet Willie

I had never heard of anyone touting Alberta beef, but in the past week I dined on steaks with a fellow FT'er who mentioned his fondness for Alberta beef and now you 7E7! I'll have to make sure and try it on my upcoming Canada 2004 summer trip.

The noticable difference I have tasted is that Argentinian beef has a beefier/heartier taste to it than does US beef. Kind of like a capon to normal hen with chicken. Not scientific by anymeans, just my observation.

Pietro

Mst commercial U.S. beef is raised on corn and injected with growth hormones and other substances. The injections allow the cows to eat the corn without getting ill -- nature intended for cows to eat grasses, not corn) and also grow more quickly so producers can get them to the markets with more efficiency. The NY Times detailed this science in an excellent feature some time ago in the Sunday magazine.

As I understand it, if you've ever had naturally-rasied, non-chemical, grass-fed beef, you'll have a sense of what true Argentinian beef is supposed to be like. As Willie says, it's known for a different flavor and it's supposed to be leaner as well.

That said, I don't know if natural U.S. beef is necessarily "better" than Argentinian beef, but it may be significantly different, depending on the level of quality and the breed of cattle.

FYI, if you have a Wild Oats or Whole Foods market in your area, you may be able to find Coleman beef steaks or beef from other producers. In my experience these are of much higher quality than typical grocery store beef. As with the poultry and pork they sell, the flavors and textures are much better IMO, plus you're eating natural unprocessed meat. With true butcher shops disappearing in many towns, this may be one of your few options short of mail order from retailers like Dean & Deluca.

Canarsie

Note to self:

Must go to Argentina and Alberta to sample and consume beef...

LH738

Theoretically:

Argentinian beef
- cows live in free nature, no stablings
- grass feeding, no additives


There's another type of beef that's becoming more known recently (but it's very rare):

Kobe beef (after you've read the remarks below = no joke!; mainly available with first class cuisine)
- natural concentrated feed (potatoes, corn, fodder beet)
- cows get beer daily (= more appetite)
- cows get massage several days a week
-> very expensive

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YVR Cockroach

Up in the neck of my woods, we get Argentinean and Albertan beef (as well as Australian and Uruguayean). All depends on the cut too but Albertan beef is nothing fancy for ordinary grades. I can't tell the difference for supermarket grades fort he same cut.

At any rate, I don't like my cows (or other livestock) eating recycled animals and hope that the beef (and livestock) industry in Canada gets creatively destroyed so herbivores are truly herbivores as nature intended. The domestic industry has supposedly stopped feeding recycled cows to cows but continues to feed it to pigs and chickens. I wouldn't be unsurprised if some recycled cows do end up getting fed to cows.

akhullar

I have been to Argentina a couple of times, and can attest that their beef is far better than what I get here. It has more flavour, and in many places the cuts are fresh (i.e. not aged)

ost of their cattle is raised on pampas grass.
buenos Aires is worth a visit to two .. just ot for beef alone

RobotDoctor

Yes, I am Mad about Alberta Beef.

Sweet Willie

aging adds flavor to beef, so I'm not sure what you meant by this.

Mr_MSWB

I have been to Argentina and, to be honest, I dont notice a great difference in quality. I know Argentine beef is highly touted in Argentina and around the world but it seems to me a larger part of the Great Argentine Beef craze is price/quality ratio.

In Argentina, a great steak is much cheaper than the U.S./Europe, etc. (can't speak for Alberta!) and steakhouses in Argentina are everywhere. These two factors lead to a perception (i.e. great margeting) that I think affects people's opinions more than quality. Now, don't get me wrong, a steak at an Argentine parilla is a beautiful thing -- they sure as hell know how to cook it right and it is full of flavor, etc. But I think a steak at a wonderful Argentine parilla compared to, say...a steak at Ruth's Chris, Morton's, or other well-known and high-end U.S. steakhouses, would come in a close second.

I have noticed, on the other hand, that Kobe beef is one killer slab of cow. I recently had a burger at Rogue Ale House in San Francisco (they had a chice between a regular burger and Kobe burger) and it was so good it stopped me in my tracks. Hta's off to the Japanese!

Kevin

modernbeat

All theory about beef production and preparation aside...

I've eaten steaks in Europe, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and many, many in the US.

I mostly eat at restraunts similar to one in the US where a Steak dinner would cost about $35 before wine is added in.

Argentina wins hands down. Cheaper than the US also. Other meats were also available, also cheaper than the US, also better than the US, but not by much.

Brazil - Good, seemed a touch better than the US, but I did good and bad cuts at different places.

Germany, Switzerland - Suspect South American beef, very very good but it was soooo expensive. Veal was the same price as the beef, and a better choice. (no moral judgements please)

Prague, Italy - Where the hell did they get that shoe leather?

Mexico - local beef from central or southern Mexico was tough and had to be heavily marinated. Not as good as what I usually get in the US. Harder to find a place that will actually serve a large, thick piece of beef. Most have chopped up marinated pieces. Did have a very good steak in Mexico City, but it cost as much as in the US and was so heavily seasoned I had to scrape the salt crust off before eating it.

US - what can I say. I find most steaks in the US sort of boring. I occasionally splurge for a steak from a really good restraunt and it's almost always worth it - though expensive.

michaelr

There are a couple of farms in Nebraska that grow Kobe beef for the Japanese market and I had the pleasure to sample it. It tastes just like butter as they say. In fact so much so that you may as well eat butter.

Beef gets more tender/juicy as marbeling (fat content) increases and with the Kobe beef the fat percentage is extremely high. The steak almost looks frozen because it's mostly white. Personally I prefer USA Prime or Choice cuts. Anything above Prime is too buttery for me.

The difference in taste (if marbeling is the same)between Argentine and USA steaks can mostly be attributed to the spice mix used and the way it's prepared.

In my opinion, it's all in the marbeling and type of cut.

gsilliman

I've lived in Japan, Argentina, and the US, and I love a good steak, so here's one more opinion:

- you can get a tenderer steak in the US or (especially) Japan than in Argentina. An Argentine steak will be leaner than Kobe beef or most Prime cuts in the US. Kobe beef can be so extremely tender it's soft -- it has the texture of ripe honeydew melon.
- That doesn't mean the Argentine steak is tough -- I once saw a waiter impress some US visitors by dividing their steak-for-two with 2 spoons, no knife.
- I think several factors add up to make the argentine steak exceptionally tasty: Although lean, there still is enough fat in an argentine steak to taste great, plus the cattle are free range, have a good diet, no fattening lots, and there's a national focus on cattle breeding/genetics going back 100+ years (their is still a huge annual agricultural fair in heart of Buenos Aires).
- A lot of care goes into grilling in Argentina, which ensures that their surprisingly lean steaks are surprisingly tender. The steaks are slowly grilled over low coals made from natural charcoal or even wood that has just been burned down to coals. The only seasoning during cooking will be coarse salt (at argentine construction sites, one worker is always designated to spend the whole morning carefully grilling lunch). Most people order their steaks "a punto" right at the point where medium rare would become medium.
- I'll try and describe tasty: the argentine steak just tastes beefier. If you can imagine the outer edge of a high quality roast that has been carefully slow cooked -- the edges are a bit salty; caramelized but not burned, the roast has been out of the oven and you're ready to carve, and you pick off a little bit for tasting -- Well, that's the concentrated beefy taste that comes through in every bite of an argentine steak. By contrast, american steak just doesn't have the flavor all by itself.



[This message has been edited by gsilliman (edited Jan 25, 2004).]