I DO enjoy steak, I like it quite pink in the middle, medium-rare I’d say, but not so much blood coming out so that it makes my curly fries soggy. That and a bottle of red sounds like bliss. Ignorance is bliss - or so I thought. I imagined tonight might be a revision session, but as it happens, I got schooled. Steak Schooled. My classroom was Grill on the Alley, my teacher was Colin and his blackboard was a table with half a cow carcass on.
Finally comes the Tomahawk, a show-stopping ribeye with a full Flintstones-style rib bone attached
Colin is a Master Butcher from Fairfax Meadows, one of the largest and highest-quality butchers and restaurant suppliers in the UK for the past 40 years. He’s here to lead Grill on the Alley’s famous Steak School.
We're welcomed with Prosecco and a delicious Black House sharing platter; before being invited to stand, put on an apron and join Colin around his workspace. ‘Is anyone squeamish?’ he chuckles as he gestures to the half cow in front of him. It’s a giant meaty jigsaw, cuts from the shoulder down to the rump laid out together, resting as they would appear inside the animal. Over the next 45 minutes Colin gives a steak master-class. He works his way down the length of the cow identifying cuts, trimming, chopping, carving out prime meat, explaining and educating along the way. There’s a huge amount of information about shoulders, ribs, rib-eyes, fillets, sirloins and rumps. Colin is an expert, and my appreciation for this beautiful animal and the quality cuts it can yield has sky-rocketed. Tonight’s yield is from the Red Limousin breed, aged less than 40 months.
Our theory lesson soon flies by and the practical begins. We’re here to sample Grill on the Alley’s Big Boy Cut menu. For £75 diners are served 400g of meat from three different prime cuts matched perfectly with three different wines. James Martin, Bibendum had selected for us the Vivanco Rioja Crianza 2011, Charles Smith’s Boom Boom Syrah 2013 and a Chainti Classico Riserva 2010, all of which are delightful on their own, but work fantastically with the forthcoming meal. We’re given a glass of each which allows us to experiment and explore our own combinations with each of the cuts.
A live jazz pianist starts up as the first of the three Big Boy Cuts arrives. To start is the Porter House. It is a massive T-bone steak; sirloin on one side and fillet on the other. It's cooked to perfection. The sirloin is a little fattier and offers a bit more structure and resistance to the bite. The fillet softer and more tender. Two distinct cuts in one dish, two different muscles, two tastes, two textures. The fillet pairs better with the Syrah- bringing out the deeper flavour of the meat. The sirloin works well with the Classico.
Next up is the Club Sirloin, seared and full of strong, salty meaty flavour on the outside, dripping with juice and succulently pink in the middle. The rarer bites set-off beautifully by the Rioja, the seared mouthfuls complimented by the Classico. Finally comes the Tomahawk, a show-stopping ribeye with a full Flintstones-style rib bone attached. It's the most well-done out of the three, offering a firmer texture but still pink in the middle, bursting with flavour and still moist, the Rioja's bold fruitiness working well with the flavour of the steak.
You’d think with 1200g of meat in front of you that sides wouldn’t get a mention, but the garlic green beans, creamy mash and home cut chips are more than welcome, perfectly done in their own right; they need to be really if they’re competing with the Big Boys.
Minds and stomachs full, the session draws to a close. Class dismissed. We stay behind for a self-imposed detention with another bottle of Rioja.
Cost: £75 for 1200kg of moo with three different wines.
To enquire about the next Steak School event, call 0161 833 3465 or email manchesterbdm@blackhouse.uk.com