Syzygies Posted 3 hours ago Report Posted 3 hours ago (edited) As is an annual tradition, I planned a brisket for a dear friend's birthday party. After I'd sourced the meat, she canceled. No party, everyone had the flu. Marin Sun Farms at Rockridge Market Hall confidently told me this would be a great brisket. The cautionary tale I had in mind: In Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio has a stellar recipe for braised beef cheek. I tried this with a California beef cheek, and it was like Charlie Chaplin’s stewed boot. We figured organic cattle smile too much. The cautionary tale I should have had in mind: Berkeley Bowl once tried to sell me a cyrovac pork shoulder. The symmetry was unsettling. I realized still in the store that it was a pair of pork butts. I was being a clod, thinking more of the first story than the second, and didn’t react to the unusual shape. I’ve never seen a brisket this tall and squat. I got one thing right: Rather than going to Las Montañas for generic chiles, I just used up my hoard of chiles from Boonville Barn Collective, and ordered more. Best rub I’ve ever made. I never would have made the party; after eleven hours at 275 F this meat was nowhere near done. An Akaushi Wagyu brisket this size would have needed 8 to 10 hours. Slicing a hunk off the end for dinner, the flavor was great, but no collagen or marbling to suggest further cooking would help. And it didn’t look at all like brisket. No deckle. So I parsed the rest into pieces to use as an ingredient various ways. Chinese noodles? Hash? I’m thinking Borscht. I’m guessing this was a legendary cut that I’ve never been able to find before, that was sold to me by accident. I’ll hold back my guess in hopes others will weigh in. Edited 3 hours ago by Syzygies
