High Steaks

Bon Appétit Takes a Very Close Look at Dry-Aged Beef

Dry-aged beef at Costata.
Dry-aged beef at Costata. Photo: Gabriela Landazuri/New York Magazine

Food writer Francis Lam explores all of the ways chefs are now experimenting with dry-aged tallow, bones, and (of course) meat in the July issue of Bon Appétit, gleaning insights from Joshua Skenes of Saison in San Francisco, Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm, and then some. It’s a great look into the crazy, flavorful, and alchemical things that happen when the microbes hit the fat cap. On a mid-course cup of dry-aged rib-bone-based beef “tea” served at Northern Spy Food Co., Lam writes, “It was one of the most astonishing things I’d ever sipped,” and says it’s indicative of where chefs may next take the craft. “It tasted like country ham,” he writes, “it tasted like pho, it tasted like shiitake, it tasted like how bad you miss your mama when you’re sick, and I stopped counting how long the flavor lasted after I got to two full minutes.” [Bon Appétit]

Bon Appétit Takes a Very Close Look at Dry-Aged Beef