Master butcher or master meat. Whatever. Butchers often keep it for themselves. The special attraction of onglet is the distinctive beef flavour, but some find it rather strong because of the liver and kidney overtones.
What it's about
The rack steak, also known as “butcher's steak”, or pending tenderloin. After all, a piece of beef steak that tastes like special. This is the upper abdomen of the cattle, which was long considered worthless. It was called “butcher's steak” because butchers often kept it for themselves rather than offered for sale. The reason for this is that the inexperienced thought it was a raw piece of meat that was good for nothing, but in fact it was one of the most valuable, best meat.
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It is a vaguely V-shaped pair of muscles with a long, inedible membrane running down the middle. The hanger steak is usually the best cut on animals, except for the tenderloin, which has no fat.
Name many, quantity few
Historically, the tooth steak More popular was in Europe. In Britain it is known as a “skirt”, not to be confused with the American skirt steak. It is known as onglet in French, lombatello in Italian, long haas in Dutch, świeca wołowa in Polish, solomillo de pulmón, entraña or entécula in Spanish. basically is also in short supply. Only a negligible proportion of the cattle slaughtered is semen. If we also take into account that we are talking about semen from young animals (calves), it is even more of a curiosity.
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The onglet is the name of a cut
From onglet is the French name for a cut of meat, which in English is called a rack steak. It was often used by butchers, and the leftover cuts were neatly (sneakily) put away for themselves. Basically, it is a flattened cutting technique from the lower belly of the animal. It is the cutting of very tender cuts of meat to produce such excellent cuts of meat that they are rare to find a match. It's no coincidence that it never used to make it to the butcher's counter and was only available to privileged restaurants and chefs. To this day, it is difficult to obtain and can only be found in specialised shops and butchers. Sometimes listed on menus as “bistro steak”, it is usually marinated, grilled, served in tortillas and flavoured with a squeeze of lime juice. In the United States, the classification for cuts of meat is NAMP 140, which is used for extremely rare items that are available in limited quantities. Therefore, in a large percentage of cases, it is not even marketed, but goes straight to the flagship restaurants.
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Why choose onglet
The onglet for steak lovers highlight, as we are talking about the best, tenderest part of the beef steak. Of course, this requires slaughtering under the right conditions and professional ageing. For a good quality onglet, a minimum of one month of maturing is required, but the highest is, premium meatparts mature much longer. This not only means that they are rarely available, but also that perfecting them through ageing is a time-consuming process. The best beef is usually dark red in colour. It is a characteristic of the maturing process, which is the hallmark of a particularly genuine steak.
If you have the onglet
Fresh steaks should - as a rule - only be kept in the fridge for a few days. If it is frozen, it should be used as soon as possible, but at least within a month. In order not to lose its outstanding quality, thawing should be done slowly. The meat should not be damaged by ice crystals. Vacuum packing will in most cases extend the shelf-life, but it should not be allowed to „ice” for more than six months!
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How to make the onglet
It is most practical to cook over a high flame at a high temperature. You can use a grill or a frying pan (the pan must be preheated), but this is more advanced, as it requires a lot of attention. The most recommended method is to cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Never take your eyes off the meat! At low temperatures, the water content will not be removed, it will be soggy and at too high a temperature it will dry out very quickly.
This type of meat needs more resting time than general steaks. Give it at least 15-20 minutes! It is important that the resting time is in a warm place, otherwise it will become rubbery and tough. The onglet should be cut in the minutes before serving. Opinions differ as to when to season. Many people say that resting is the best time.
