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Beef & Beer Masterclass at Mumu Grill – Crows Nest, Sydney

FFichiban — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:42:19 +0000

There are just some partnerships that are undeniably perfect for each other. For me, beef and beer are just one of those partnerships (to all the wine drinkers I say beer > wine ) and so when Craig of Mumu Grill teamed up with Dan the beer snob of Beer Snobs I knew something magical was going to happen. Two people, one with a deep passion for cooking organic and sustainable meats to perfection and other with a deep passion for drinking only perfection come together to teach us average Joes how to enjoy what we put in our mouths on a different level.

The difference between a cut of wagyu sirloin and normal sirloin, not only is the marbling quite noticeably different but so are the price tags…

We started off with the cooking part of the class where Craig began with the basics of the meat. It is important to know where and how these meat came around as important as what we feed ourselves it is also vital to know what these cows were fed. Grass-fed beef is a more time consuming and less efficient way of raising the cows for beef but there are many health advantages with a higher Omega 3 content over the grain-fed and of course the natural flavours of the grass-fed beef is more intense and of greater quality.

He then educates us that the cut of meat and which part of the cow it comes from also determines its flavour. I was surprised to find out that only 20% of the cow is used for primary cuts which includes the rump, rib eye fillet, sirloin and tenderloin. Such a low percentage of the cow consists of primal cuts that these should be treated with respect and cooked to maximize their flavours otherwise the cow would have died in vain!

After obtaining the meat, the next step is to age it. This is the process of allowing the natural enzymes in the meat to act on and break down the muscle fibres to result in a softer and more tender meat. There are two processes of aging and that is the wet aging and the dry aging. Aging (especially dry aging) requires very specific conditions so that the meat does not go bad and does result in some weight-loss, therefore it is a costly and timely process and props to Craig for doing it properly. The meat is usually at its prime at 4-6 weeks of aging.

Next came the important steps of oiling up the meat (not the pan) and giving it a good coat of seasoning. Different chefs have their own special blend to apply to their steaks but basically it is oil, sea salt to bring the intrinsic flavours of the meat out and pepper to add that extra spice into the steak. You can also make a dry rub for the meat as we did for the cut of prime rib. Now comes the cooking of the meat which means Here Comes the Food.

The students of the class then took turns in helping with the cooking!

A T-bone steak and wagyu sirloin was grilled to a beautiful rare state and then allowed to cooked through to a medium-rare in the open fire oven. I am a bit disappointed I did not get any photos of the final product as I was helping out in the kitchen but the taste of the T-bone Tagliatta and the wagyu sirloin were just divine. They were both so tender and juicy and even though the marbling of the wagyu caused it to be melt-in-your-mouth goodness, the T-bone was also equally delicious with an aromatic garlic and rosemary sauce.

Once all the dishes were completed we moved to the outdoor seating to enjoy the sunshine and the beer section of the class

Of course, we had to do our thang!

The eye fillet wrapped in proscuitto and sage (check out my pro wrapping skills on one of them…) worked together to create a harmony of flavours with each bite. The saltiness of the proscuitto worked very well with the sage and the tender cut of meat.

BBQ Ribs; BBQ Szechwan and coffee crusted Prime rib with BBQ pear salad and horseradish

These BBQ ribs were probably my favourite dish of the day, followed closely by the T-bone. The meat simply fell off the bone and each bite resulted in a luscious tender chunk of meat. The BBQ sauce also matched the quality of the meat with its sweet and sticky goodness. If I could have had it my way, I would have taken both plates of ribs and cleaned them. The prime rib with the szechwan and coffee crust also worked out to be a treat. The subtle pepper matched the subtlety of the coffee to not only give the meat a beautiful flavour but aroma as well. Once again the meat was cooked to a juicy medium-rare, as it should be, matched with the salad off BBQ vegetables and pear.

Dan the Beer Snob and his brilliant shirt

Dan starts off by explaining how he wants to make the world a better place by getting boutique beers into every possible place and I totally applaud his passion for beer, for I too love the boutique beers ^^! He then educates us that a good beer should be allowed to breathe by pouring into a glass (I prefer a chilled glass) then examine the beer with the three Cs; Colour, Clarity and Carbonation. The colour of the beer would of course be determined by the type of beer it is and can vary from a dark chocolate to a light wheat yellow. The clarity of the beer can vary from a cloudy mist due to suspended yeast to a clear filtered beer. Lastly the carbonation of the beer as it give it a good swirl. Then you give the beer three big whiffs to get all the scents of all the different flavours.

The beers we tried at the class were;

Wicked Elf Witbier – My favourite beer of the day as it was incredibly smooth and reminded me a lot of Hoegarden (my favourite beer of all time heh). Wheat beer does have a more intense flavour and it really is like drinking liquid bread, which is probably why I love them so much. It gives off a tropically aroma which also adds to the slight fruitiness of the beer.

Murrays Pilsner – This beer gives a sweet aroma of honey which reminds me of Beez Neez but ends with a bitterness which is a bit of an acquired taste. It does have a crisp and clean flavour that I can see many people appreciating.

Pigs Fly Pale Ale – Another crisp and fresh beer with a golden colour also with a slight fruity tinge to it.Not as bitter as the Murrays but does have a slight lingering bitterness but overall very easy to drink.

Moo Brew Dark Ale – This beer was mind-blasting in the way that it would be considered a dessert beer. There were obvious tones and hints of chocolate and cheeries and as soon as Dan said ‘blackforest cake’ everybody was nodding their head in agreement. I also found that there was a linger of coffee in the aftertaste. Definitely an interesting beer and I would like to try some with some blackforest cake heh.

A very education and interesting class with delicious food, fascinating drinks and awesome teachers! It was great fun being in the kitchen and testing out our skills with Craig and then learning and discussing all things beer with Dan. After all this I think it is time for a beer and a steak

Here Comes the Food attended this class courtesy of Mumu Grill

Mumu Grill

70 Alexander St

Crows Nest

Ph: (02) 94606877

Head Chef: Craig MacIndoe

FFichiban

Suminoya – Sydney CBD, Sydney (2)

FFichiban — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:20:16 +0000

After gorging myself at the Eveleigh Markets/Blackbird Cafe and Lindt Cafe, I did what all other respected foodies do which is to gorge even more on a buffet nonetheless. I have got most of the information about Suminoya on my previous post (here) so this post is mainly just for some drool enticing and meat craving purposes. They have made a few changes from what I remember like how the Gourmet Buffet is only available on specific days which Saturday is not one of them so we had to settle for the Premium Buffet. Since we are all asian that extra 8 dora meant we had to eat at least an extra 30 doras worth of food! Easier said than done when there was still some chocolate milkshake swirling around inside my stomach hee hee.

The menu! Umm 6 orders of beef tongue please, 10 orders of the beef rib finger, 3 pork rib, 3 corn with butter, 4 salmon sashimi…. oh and maybe 5 more beef rib fingers kthx

We were luckily seated downstairs but even then we smoked up the whole area with the beef rib finger haha. Methinks it might be the marinade on that cut that induces all the smoke because all the other meats did not smoke as badly but the weak ventilation system here also plays a role in making you smell like a walking bbq afterwards.

Here Comes the Food

Corn with butter

Simple but these little juicy, sweet, golden nuggets have formidable powers to bring smiles of joy to many a faces.

Beef Tongue

The best way to start off the bbq as they have a high oil content which helps gets the fires stoked. Make sure to keep an eye on these and try not to take photos of them while they are being cooked as they are thin and will burn quite easily. The texture of the beef tongue is major attraction to this cut of meat so multiple servings of this was definitely ordered.

Sashimi

Salmon, kingfish and tuna sashimi since we got the Premium Buffet. They were fresh and flavoursome just as expected of a place of this caliber.

Pork Rib and Beef Rib Finger

My star of the show has arrived yay ^^! The pork rib were just ok as they did tend to be a little but too tough (reflects our cooking skills? Nahhhh) but the beef rib finger was just as good as I remember them. The marbling causes the meat to melt in your mouth and oils pool out of the meat to flavourfy all of your taste buds.

Lettuce? Must have been a mistake in the order haha

I kid I kid, lettuce is a good way to take the edge off all the meatiness. Wrap your meaty goodness up in the lettuce and the juices and oils of the meat will remedy any healthy-tasting parts of the lettuce. This reminds me that I forgot to take the photos of the salads that we had (We srsly did eat salad and I am not just making it up! The salmon and seaweed salad is my fav XP).

Garlic with Butter

Garlicy breathe is worth it after you tried this. The garlic becomes soft and sort of like a mush or paste and all the sting of the garlic is bbqed out of it. The butter also plays a huge role hee hee.

Beef Intestine

I was the only one that indulged in some intestine but I like the chewiness it provides. They are quite fatty and can be a bit too chewy so not too much is needed to fulfil your intestinal cravings.

Yukke

Another must order! Raw beef + raw egg may sound like a perfect Salmonella bomb but Suminoya is trust worthy and use very good quality ingredients.

The only cooking photo I took, because we were too busy eating ^^! Mmmmm meaty goodness

Green Tea Ice Cream

Hee hee the last order is always very hard because you have to judge and estimate how much dessert we can fit into our special ‘dessert stomach’. The green tea ice cream is a good way to fill it all up usually but since there was lemon sorbet on the menu for the Premium Buffet and I have not tried it we had to find that fine balance between ice cream and sorbet.

The green tea ice cream was a bit weak this time but was still very nice and creamy. Maybe it was because of the lower no. of scoops bt they did not give us any hollow scoops yay ^^!

Lemon sorbet…. and sorry to disappoint but no that is not all mine -___-

Lemony fresh with a refreshing tinge of sourness. I really liked having the contrast between this and the ice cream. Actually I liked it so much I combined them together and it was fantastic ^^!