A nicely marbled steak

[RonB]

We went to Wegman's today since we were close. As Nan visited the veggies, I checked out the meat department. These steaks had some nice marbling:


And they were on sale for only $135 a pound. I prefer slightly less marbling, so I passed.

[TripleB]

I assume those are Wagyu. $135/lb. what a deal.

[RonB]

Yes, and this A5 is the highest grade.

[Steve B]

I’ll take the 2 peeking in from the left thank you. A5 is definitely a bit much for me. Not cost wise. Over marbling wise.

[RonB]

I agree...

[Jfrosty27]

I also feel that the A5 beef is too marbled. It’s just way too rich tasting (no pun intended) for me. It tastes like I’m eating beef flavored butter. Those two steaks peaking out on the left though….

[smokenoob]

I’m not the sharpest marble in the bag, but I’m feeling pretty brilliant for passing that deal up! 😁

[captainlee]

Too marbled, too expensive and a waste of Pepto for my gut.

[Murdy]

I'm surprised a grocery store can sell enough of that to justify keeping it in the case.

[RonB]

These steaks were individually vacuum sealed.

[Bkhuna]

I've had Kobe and Matsusaka beef in Japan. Both were very small portions cut into bite sized pieces and quickly heated up over live fire with some good salt and a small dab of Yuzu koshō on the side. For me, eating more than a few ounces of this kind of meat is overkill. It's the old "moderation in everything including moderation" paradigm.

[smokenoob]

I’ll take one ounce for $10 please!

[Uncle Bob]

Those steaks to the left do look righteous, but sign me up for those double thick pork chops (I think) up top...

[Mosca]

I thought they were lamb chops.

[Oak Smoke]

You could get 10 double meat whoppers and large fries for what 1 pound of that costs. You could get a decent bottle of Scotch for that much. There’s just too much fat for me.

[smokenoob]

pass on the whoppers but pass the scotch!

[HouseHomey]

All I have is cash. Do you think they take cash?

[Mosca]

1) I will testify that it is absolutely possible to eat 10 or 12 oz of A5 Wagyu in one sitting. The only reason I haven’t tried to eat 16oz is that I never bought a 16oz steak.

2) That isn’t to say it’s the best choice. It isn’t rewarding to eat it that way because that’s not how you’re supposed to eat it.

3) $135/lb is pretty decent for real A5. You’d have to look closer, and ask what prefecture, whether the cows are red or black, etc. There’s A5 Wagyu, and then there’s A5 Wagyu.

I’ve tried some of the really esoteric Wagyus side by side: drunken, snow, olive, and some of the different prefectures. It’s been a few years, but I can safely say that they were all amazing, and I didn’t prefer any one over another. The biggest takeaway is that the more esoteric ones taste more complex. Refer to point #2 above. You’re not just moving teeth here; you’re taking small bites, savoring, thinking about what’s going on. An entire way of life: from thinking about where to start farming, to what to plant for feed and when, to what cows to start with and which specific individual animals, how to care for them, butcher them, care for the meat to bring it to table; the industry of animal husbandry is being treated like an art. And then the preparation and presentation takes the same care. And the final product is sitting on a plate in front of you. Honestly, as long as you know what to do with that piece of beef, $135/lb to get it to your home is kind of a bargain.

I compare it other arts. Gastronomy doesn’t get the same respect as the visual arts, or the audible arts, because we don’t experience it the same way. (Audible arts have been preservable for only about 150 years; mull on that one a moment.) Food is the only art made to be destroyed! Comparing any steak to Olive Wagyu is using the wrong measuring stick. One is sustenance, the other is gastronomy. When thinking about food, we (emphatically including I/me) are most commonly searching for the most savory way to provide sustenance. We consider different vendors, look for better produce, in many cases we make our own sauces and seasonings, all sorts of things. But in all those cases, our goal is sustenance. Because let’s face it, every now and then dinner is a bowl of Raisin Bran. Because I/we don’t want to shop/cook/clean, and it gets the job done.

You don't buy Wagyu for sustenance. You buy Wagyu for gastronomy. You buy it because you know what you’re doing with fire and cast iron (or carbon steel or fire), there are guests coming over, and everyone wants to shut their eyes and chew, slowly, while trying to cement the memory of that taste and flavor into those permanent hard memory synapses. (I make prime ribeyes, while serving a Wagyu strip steak cut into small cubes as an appetizer. They complement each other, and at the same time the contrast is insightful and doesn’t detract from the main course.) But once it’s over, it’s over. There’s no review of the tape. It’s not on Spotify or Netflix.

My Wagyu days are over. I’d guess I’ve eaten or shared maybe a couple dozen A5 steaks, along with countless American Wagyu and a couple Australian. (Except I still have that 18lb SRF Gold American Wagyu brisket, I’m going to make that for this year’s 4th of July celebration.) I can’t afford it, now that I’m retired… strike that. Better said, I used to be able to afford whatever I wanted. Now I have to pick and choose, and there are other things I’d rather do with $135. Still, every Wagyu steak I ever ate, I cherish that memory. I definitely planted that taste into my hard synapses.

[PGH_RAM]

You've written a beautiful ode to beautiful food!