US beef available in Paris
#22
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Hanging/ageing meat is the traditional way to let it get tender. No need for hormones!
I buy wonderful (Angus) beef here in Brussels that has been properly aged and it is meltingly tender. My French husband agrees that he has never had such good beef back home.
I don't think (though am happy to be corrected) that they go in for ageing/hanging meat in the same way in France, which is why the beef is often tougher.
I buy wonderful (Angus) beef here in Brussels that has been properly aged and it is meltingly tender. My French husband agrees that he has never had such good beef back home.
I don't think (though am happy to be corrected) that they go in for ageing/hanging meat in the same way in France, which is why the beef is often tougher.
#23
xenophobic, moi? Been accused of many things but not that on this.
Just trying to understand what the marketing image is they are trying to present. For example in the UK there is a marketing position for Texas beef (but strangly not Argentinian) while in Spain it is the other way around. Never heard of the French having a belief in great US beef (not saying it does or does not exist) just if there is a clear marketing perception.
Last year we had a US guy going to Paris for a week who wanted to only eat US beef (I know we tried to explain) but he was addement that was all he ate so he needed a source. I've met US guys coming to Leeds who only wanted to eat beef burgers for two whole weeks.
So maybe the market is the american market in Paris?
Just trying to understand what the marketing image is they are trying to present. For example in the UK there is a marketing position for Texas beef (but strangly not Argentinian) while in Spain it is the other way around. Never heard of the French having a belief in great US beef (not saying it does or does not exist) just if there is a clear marketing perception.
Last year we had a US guy going to Paris for a week who wanted to only eat US beef (I know we tried to explain) but he was addement that was all he ate so he needed a source. I've met US guys coming to Leeds who only wanted to eat beef burgers for two whole weeks.
So maybe the market is the american market in Paris?
#24
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hanl - hanging/ageing is only one method of tenderizing beef. From the US Ag Service:
"The use of hormones provides several benefits in beef production. A hormone-treated animal gains weight more rapidly, <b>producing a more flavorful and tender product</b>. By reaching market weight sooner, there is a reduction in the cost of beef production. Thus, consumers are provided with a higher quality of meat at lower prices."
Julia Child says that the difference in butchering methods is partly responsible - The French cut meat according to the muscle separation while in the US it is cut against the grain.
The "total animal" use in France accounts for some tougher cuts. In the US a lot more beef ends up as hamburger.
Grass-fed beef is tougher than feedlot and grain-fed beef - more muscle (tougher) vs more fat (tenderer).
Hormone cattle grow faster and therefore are slaughtered younger (tenderer).
The estimate of natural beef vs hormone in the US is less than 5%.
The popularity of Argentinian and Uruguay beef in Europe has been suggested to be their ability to rapidly change to perceived market demands for natural beef in Europe.
"The use of hormones provides several benefits in beef production. A hormone-treated animal gains weight more rapidly, <b>producing a more flavorful and tender product</b>. By reaching market weight sooner, there is a reduction in the cost of beef production. Thus, consumers are provided with a higher quality of meat at lower prices."
Julia Child says that the difference in butchering methods is partly responsible - The French cut meat according to the muscle separation while in the US it is cut against the grain.
The "total animal" use in France accounts for some tougher cuts. In the US a lot more beef ends up as hamburger.
Grass-fed beef is tougher than feedlot and grain-fed beef - more muscle (tougher) vs more fat (tenderer).
Hormone cattle grow faster and therefore are slaughtered younger (tenderer).
The estimate of natural beef vs hormone in the US is less than 5%.
The popularity of Argentinian and Uruguay beef in Europe has been suggested to be their ability to rapidly change to perceived market demands for natural beef in Europe.
#27
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>>>>>>>
Last year we had a US guy going to Paris for a week who wanted to only eat US beef (I know we tried to explain)
>>>>>>
just curious....what did you try to explain? that although french beef is inferior in texture it's not evil like american hormone beef??? maybe he doesn't buy into all this bs and just wants a good steak at an affordable price. who could blame him?
Last year we had a US guy going to Paris for a week who wanted to only eat US beef (I know we tried to explain)
>>>>>>
just curious....what did you try to explain? that although french beef is inferior in texture it's not evil like american hormone beef??? maybe he doesn't buy into all this bs and just wants a good steak at an affordable price. who could blame him?
#28
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Most of these people who are demonizing US beef wouldn't know one end of a cow from the other.
The image of factory-produced US beef is rather cartoonish. Most US beef is FINISHED in feed lots for a few months, after having been raised in pastures (whether grass or winter wheat) for most of their lives.
The European restrictions on hormone fed beef are all about protectionism, and not about health concerns. Furthermore, as times get tougher economically, it's detrimental to the poor that the European regulations are forcing people to pay higher prices for European beef in an effort to support European farmers.
The image of factory-produced US beef is rather cartoonish. Most US beef is FINISHED in feed lots for a few months, after having been raised in pastures (whether grass or winter wheat) for most of their lives.
The European restrictions on hormone fed beef are all about protectionism, and not about health concerns. Furthermore, as times get tougher economically, it's detrimental to the poor that the European regulations are forcing people to pay higher prices for European beef in an effort to support European farmers.
#30
Ah walking, we tried to explain that in france there was other food than just steak and that people actually come to the country to participate in a wide range of food. But he was clear he only ate one thing.
I guess his house has only one picture
Now has anyone heard that zenophobia is fear of paradox?
I guess his house has only one picture
Now has anyone heard that zenophobia is fear of paradox?
#31
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<<The European restrictions on hormone fed beef are all about protectionism, and not about health concerns.>>
The ban on hormones in France is over 50 years old.
The onset of puberty continues to be at a younger age in the US. Not so in France.
The age of puberty is linked to breast cancer.
France has a longer life expectancy than the US despite the smoking and drinking.
Why is it so hard to admit that we just may have gotten this one wrong?
The best that the scientists can tell us is that they cannot prove a link between cancer and hormones...not that there is no link; that they can't prove one. (see Cornell study).
Think I'll stick to natural beef for my family.
The ban on hormones in France is over 50 years old.
The onset of puberty continues to be at a younger age in the US. Not so in France.
The age of puberty is linked to breast cancer.
France has a longer life expectancy than the US despite the smoking and drinking.
Why is it so hard to admit that we just may have gotten this one wrong?
The best that the scientists can tell us is that they cannot prove a link between cancer and hormones...not that there is no link; that they can't prove one. (see Cornell study).
Think I'll stick to natural beef for my family.
#32
" the steaks are lovely and in moderate amounts they certainly won't harm you" - it seems to be more unpleasant than actually dangerous, but I have developed an allergy to bovine growth hormone - or possibly to the antibiotics also administered to US factory-farmed cattle. I can eat non-US beef and dairy without ill effect.
I have occasionally been able to buy grass-fed beef at my local Whole Foods, and haven't found it any tougher than their regular no-hormones-no-antibiotics beef. If I saw US beef on a menu in France I'd find another restaurant!
I have occasionally been able to buy grass-fed beef at my local Whole Foods, and haven't found it any tougher than their regular no-hormones-no-antibiotics beef. If I saw US beef on a menu in France I'd find another restaurant!
#33
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Isn't it great to have a choice in the market so we can make our own decisions about the real and perceived health risks and benefits? Seems as though it was only yesterday that our health gurus favored banning butter to promote good heart health by substituting solid margarine.
Bon appetit.
Bon appetit.
#34
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hmmm...i agree with you. it's a personal choice. there is no need for us europeans to lecture and get all weird about american beef.
health 'experts' can't agree on much of anything. and some people pop vitamins like sweets others think they are very harmful and others harmless but a waste of money. some avoid sweets, still others feel that dairy is the root of all evil. some people think that bread makes you gay.
and robjames properly peer reviewed research links all of america's problems to hormones in beef. how laughable. we have a higher rate of MS in the uk...my reseach shows that this is caused by deficiency in bovine growth hormone. it's incredible that such ignorance is out there.
we have a massive binge drinking problem here in the uk but we are lecturing about american beef?!?! france has a big smoking problem..and they are so obsessed with lecturing about american beef!!!
we also love to say how americans are so obsessed with health issues...what to eat and what not to eat. how ironic.
health 'experts' can't agree on much of anything. and some people pop vitamins like sweets others think they are very harmful and others harmless but a waste of money. some avoid sweets, still others feel that dairy is the root of all evil. some people think that bread makes you gay.
and robjames properly peer reviewed research links all of america's problems to hormones in beef. how laughable. we have a higher rate of MS in the uk...my reseach shows that this is caused by deficiency in bovine growth hormone. it's incredible that such ignorance is out there.
we have a massive binge drinking problem here in the uk but we are lecturing about american beef?!?! france has a big smoking problem..and they are so obsessed with lecturing about american beef!!!
we also love to say how americans are so obsessed with health issues...what to eat and what not to eat. how ironic.
#37
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Rich - hormones are generally released by a tag in the ear - maybe you remember these? That ear is discarded at slaughter... not deemed fit to use as food.
walkin - seems your form of "logic" is used by another group. "More people are killed by cars so don't worry about guns." (NRA)
walkin - seems your form of "logic" is used by another group. "More people are killed by cars so don't worry about guns." (NRA)
#38
<i>I'm sorry, but the French do NOT know what a "steak" really is...a thin piece of barely visible meat it isn't.</i>
The word 'steak' is used for a thin piece of meat. That's the problem with people ordering only items whose name they think they recognize. There are a lot of other beef words in France to get a thick steak if that's what you want. "Pavé" is one example.
The word 'steak' is used for a thin piece of meat. That's the problem with people ordering only items whose name they think they recognize. There are a lot of other beef words in France to get a thick steak if that's what you want. "Pavé" is one example.
#40
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<i>The word 'steak' is used for a thin piece of meat. That's the problem with people ordering only items whose name they think they recognize.</i>
So the meaning has changed in the last 50 years from what it meant in "le Steack et les frites" in Roland Barthes' <i>Mythologies</i>. In his essay, the thin piece of meat was qualified as <i>semelloïde</i>, in contrast to the more substantial pieces of meat.
So the meaning has changed in the last 50 years from what it meant in "le Steack et les frites" in Roland Barthes' <i>Mythologies</i>. In his essay, the thin piece of meat was qualified as <i>semelloïde</i>, in contrast to the more substantial pieces of meat.