The Chamber of Agriculture, is of course present at Expogast, the world gastronomy event in Luxembourg, which is being held until 30 November at LuxExpo, and in partnership with VATEL Luxembourg, has the honour of highlighting one of the Grand Duchy’s flagship products: its beef. The Chamber asked some of the international teams competing in the World Culinary Cup what they thought of this local product. Here is the opinion of an expert: Patrick O’Brien, Director of the Australian teams.
Patrick O’Brien, has been selecting, training and leading members of the Australian Culinary Team since 2002. He took his teams to the 2008 and 2012 Culinary Olympic Games winning gold and silver.
How would you rate the quality of beef, a product of Luxembourg’s terroir?
It is a very good quality meat, well matured. Just by looking at it you know it’s going to be pleasant to work with. So we had a piece of chuck and a piece of rump steak.
Does the origin of beef in Australia play a particular role for butchers and consumers?
Australian beef is a very popular and widely consumed meat in this country. Meat Standards Australia promotes Australian beef and has been established to improve the consistency of the taste quality of beef by introducing a grading system.
Can you tell us your little secret for preparing meat that is tender and melts in the mouth?
The secret is to cook the meat “sous vide” for a long time, at a low temperature. The meat softens and for example we cook a rump steak for about 1h30 at 57° and then at 62° where it caramelises.
What is your favourite piece of beef and why?
The sirloin, because I like the texture of the meat and it’s a piece that has a lot of flavour.
How did you stage the pieces of Luxembourgish beef you were given for this Culinary World Cup?
So we cooked the slow roasted rump steak “sous vide”, and served the chuck in a chanterelle pie.