Word: brae
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...consumers turn toward lighter meals of fish and chicken, is experimenting with new breeds of beef-producing cattle that are considerably lower in fat and calories than the conventional product. These leaner beefs are beginning to find their way to market with names barely recognizable to most consumers. Nonetheless, Brae, zebu, beefalo and Chianina Lite will soon be tempting steak- and hamburger-loving Americans who want to get back to their old favorites. These meats have anywhere from 25% to 85% less fat and 32% to 79% fewer calories than standard beef, but the most important question to beef lovers...
Three of the new beefs are from crossbred animals. Brae comes from a conventional breed (Black Angus), but the herds are fed differently than most cattle. Developed by Fred Grant, a former banker, and named for his farm Windabrae (Scottish for windy slope), these cattle graze on grass for the first two years of life and are then fed a diet of high-quality silage and beer. Grant uses no growth hormones or other chemicals, and the meat contains 84% less fat and 43% fewer calories than regular beef. Cuts ordered by TIME from the Brae Beef Shop in Stamford...
...Brae was slightly firmer in texture than corn-fed beef but exuded a quintessential beefy flavor that was a more than adequate reward for a little extra chewing. The porterhouse and sirloin steaks pan-grilled in an iron skillet would have done credit to any first-class steak house. A rib roast was succulent and tender, but ground sirloin and chuck were too lean to make properly moist hamburgers. Pot roast and stew cuts, though acceptable, cooked so quickly that they did not absorb the flavors of seasonings, one of the advantages of the usually fatty, long-cooking cuts...
...comparable cuts of ordinary beef. Two samples from animals that were fed differently were tested, with somewhat different results. Beefalo from Healey's Market in Manchester, Vt., was slightly richer, more flavorful and moister than comparable cuts from Chenango Beefalo in Greene, N.Y. Although neither example of beefalo matched Brae, both were certainly adequate. Steaks cooked rare were the most successful cuts, even though they were paler in color, milder in flavor and a bit tougher than Brae. Stews were barely acceptable. Roasts, however, were much too dry because the meat lacked the fat to keep them supple...