There’s nothing like watching someone you admire work their ass off and achieve an absolutely enormous goal.  I could not be more proud of Chris Tanghe for becoming a Master Sommelier.

Most of you probably won’t be aware of the certification, the prestige that comes with it, or the incredible amount of time, work and effort that goes into it.

Let me put it in perspective for you.  The Court of Master Sommeliers was founded around 1977 as an international organization to promote, test, and certify wine knowledge at the very highest level.  They award the Master Sommelier diploma as the ultimate achievement a sommelier can attain.

You know how many Master Sommeliers there are now?  201.  In the world.

Chris was one of 63 who took the most recent exam – which includes what is probably the most brutal blind taste test ever conceived – and one of only four who passed.  His achievement has been seven years, 2000+ flash cards, and hours and hours and hours and hours of work in the making.
When it comes to wine, he is officially the fucking man.

That’s not just my opinion, either.  This diploma is so cool that when someone earns it it’s news – read more over at The Seattle Met and Sip Northwest.

But I don’t want to gloss over Chris’s other culinary achievements.  He may be one of the world’s beverage elite now, but he’s also no slouch when it comes to the kitchen.  He’s studied at the very prestigious Culinary Institute of America, he’s cooked for many great restaurants, and he’s the chef behind about half the recipes on our blog.  He has all of the gastronomic bases covered.

All this and he’s also a down to earth, solid, great guy and a wonderful friend.

Congratulations Chris, you’ve earned it!

When it comes to beef, marbling is key.  This interspersed thin layers of fat throughout muscle is used to judge beef quality (that’s how Select, Choice & Prime are decided).  It’s believed to play an important role in tenderness, flavor and moistness.

But when it comes to grain-fed beef produced in the US, marbling is about to become a lot less common.

Zilmax = More Beef, Less Quality
In a new Slate article entitled Why Beef is Becoming More Like Chicken, Christopher Leonard describes the introduction of a new feed supplement called Zilmax – a drug originally intended to treat asthma.

“A new cattle drug called Zilmax is being widely used in the industrial feedlots where most of America’s beef comes from, but not because it produces a better sirloin.  In fact, it has been shown to make steak less flavorful and juicy…” he writes.   “Zilmax is a highly effective growth drug, and it makes cattle swell up with muscle in the final weeks of their lives.  And despite concerns within the industry, the economics of modern beef production have made the rise of Zilmax all but inevitable.”

You don’t just have to take his word for Zilmax’s effects though – here’s a product overview from Merck, producer of Zilmax.

When it comes down to it, the margins in commodity beef production are too narrow NOT to use Zilmax.  According to Leonard, Feedlot managers are making the switch in the hopes of making just an extra $30 in profit per animal.

Zilmax isn’t the only strange thing being fed to cattle in the US
We’ve also written about the how’s and why’s of growth hormone use in grain-fed cattle, and antibiotics as feed supplements and byproducts in feed.

So What Do You Do?
…if you don’t want beef with all this stuff in it?  Switch to specialty beef where producers focus on quality rather than quantity.  Switch to beef from countries that outlaw the use of antibiotics, hormones, etc as growth promotants.  Like our amazingly delicious New Zealand Grass-fed Angus Beef

Farmers and agricultural colleges have long experimented with tweaking livestock feed to improve weight-gain and animal health.  Farm animals need help growing, especially in feedlots where  illness spreads quickly because the animals are crammed into an unnatural habitat and fed an unnatural diet.  In conventional American agriculture, antibiotics and/or hormones are routine, but I have recently heard about a couple exceptional feeds being used on small farms:

On a recent trip to Japan, I met a pig farmer who has a remarkably innovative system of feeding the pigs a fermented grain, probiotic-rich diet and thereby avoiding administration of antibiotics, even though they are raised in confinement.  Get it?  Probiotics instead of antibiotics.  Surprisingly, animal welfare had nothing to do with his decision-making, he didn’t even know that we have a major antibiotics-in-feed problem in the states.  He just does it because it makes the fat whiter and gives the pork a better smell.  The fermented grain feed gives the meat more marketable qualities – but as a result, he also has healthier pigs without antibiotics – a surprise win-win.

Of course, that example isn’t nearly as amusing as BB Ranch’s pot-fed pigs, which you can read about over at the Seattle Met blog.  Pigs have long consumed the leavings of agricultural production – but I bet none have enjoyed their feed as much as these pigs, who dine on the stems, leaves and root bulbs leftover from a local medical marijuana co-op.  Weed supposedly provides healthy fiber to the pigs and a more savory flavor to the meat.  Farmers throughout the world are focused on getting their livestock to gain weight quick.  There must be few feeds out there that give livestock the munchies like weed.

As far as weight-gain supplements go, I’ll take probiotic-fed or ganja-fed over zilmax-fed any day of the week.  Or every day.

Serious Reporting About Serious Food Issues:
Under the Label Series – NPR

If you’re trying to make more sustainable choices when purchasing seafood, NPR’s recent special report series on the Marine Stewardship Council and their standards of sustainability is a fascinating read/listen.

The above link also includes a link to the Marine Stewardship Council’s response, so you can see what they took issue with and draw your own conclusions.

Fun & Eye Opening:
Worms: a Zimbabwe snack, from tree to dinner table –Associated Press (KOMO News linked)

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting to find sentences like “Banda was known for carrying around pocketsful of worms that he would also offer to children” or “Soak dried worms in water for 3-4 hours to reconstitute” in the next food article I read, but this one is an amazing window into a regional delicacy.

The mopane worm is a large caterpillar that is commonly collected and dried for consumption in Zimbabwe and southern Africa, either raw as a snack or cooked in sauce.  It’s significantly higher in protein than beef, easier on the environment than beef, and has a flavor “reminiscent of salty potato chips.”

What do you think?  The next snacking sensation?

Fascinating:
Some People Really Can Taste the Rainbow – NPR

Synethesia is a neurological condition where stimulation of one sense stimulates another sense as well.  It’s surprisingly common, with one in 26 people believed to have some form of it.  Only a very tiny proportion of those people have a variety that involves taste being evoked by other senses or vice-versa.

Some people experience flavors when they hear words, or experience tastes as colors, etc.  This article attempts to give the reader a window into their world.  Ultimately I wish it was a lot more in depth, it fascinates but ultimately left me wanting so much more.  Still, it’s an eye-opening read that you should check out!

Intriguing and/or Horrifying:
From Pets to Plates: Why More People Are Eating Guinea Pigs – NPR

Every wondered why guinea pigs are so high strung?  I’ve always assumed it’s because they’re considered a delicacy in some parts of the world (you’d be nervous too).  This article explores the practices of preparing and eating guinea pigs, their potential impact on the environment as a cultivated food animal (significantly lower per pound than cattle), and guinea pig meat’s (aka cuy) slow emergence on restaurant menus in the US.

Money Saving Food Science:
A Shocking (and Hot!) Tip for Preserving Produce – Modernist Cuisine Blog

W. Wayt Gibbs of the Cooking Lab (here in Seattle) has published an informative guide to heat-shocking produce, a simple step than can dramatically increase the shelf life of fruits & vegetables.

Ever Heard of a “Vegas Strip Steak”?
Can You Patent a Steak? Part 1 & Part 2 – NPR

Believe it or not, new steaks do show up on the market from time to time.  Cattle aren’t changing before our eyes, but our knowledge of butchery is.  Oklahoma State University is attempting to patent a new butchery method for removing a new steak cut, which they claim offers tenderness akin to a NY Strip Steak, from where it’s been hiding in the midst of muscles usually ground to make hamburger. They’re calling it the Vegas Strip Steak.

A New Excuse for that Martini…
Shut Up and Drink Your Salad: Cocktails Embrace Spinach, Kale, and Arugula – Daily Details

Ok, putting leafy greens in your cocktails isn’t going to let you square them with your doctor as health food…but it will give them new flavors and truly gorgeous colors.  Hit the link above for some drool-inducing eye candy and new mixology ideas.

Ask a grass-fed cattle farmer, pretty much any grass-fed cattle farmer, about antibiotics and you will be greeted by a reaction that is a mix of defensive and dumbfounded, a reaction that is so uniform that you’d think they were reading off their talking points like a party politician.

Farmers insist that it would be inhumane to deny an animal antibiotics if their health or life depended on them.  Just like we need to be medicated when we are sick, sometimes animals need to be medicated.  One New Zealand farmer I spoke to said that he gives antibiotics to about 2 out of 1,000 cattle in any given year and then they have a 30 day waiting period before the animal can be sent to slaughter.  This is basically what the claim “never fed sub-therapeutic antibiotics” means.

Personally, I would prefer to eat 100% antibiotic-free meat, but I realize that position is either: 1) rather elitist of me and/or 2) a slap in the face of animal welfare.  Those who claim to sell “never-ever” meat simply put the medicated animal into separate production of 100% antibiotic-fed meat, so somebody is eating it, just not me.  And, if the animal is not treated it could suffer needlessly from an infection.

I suspect that the reason why grass-fed farmers are often defensive about this question is because they feel that urbanites don’t understand that to deny antibiotics to an animal who is suffering is inherently inhumane.  The grass-fed farmers who I have met care deeply about the animals that they are raising.  The reality is that animals that live on grass, with space, in a natural environment seldom need antibiotics so they are used sparingly in grass-fed operations.

The big problem arises when antibiotics are administered as a matter of practice and in large volumes.  In North America, farmers order antibiotics from a catalog just like they order corn and they administer those antibiotics routinely to all of their animals.  Feedlot cattle are fed antibiotics with their food because in a confined and crowded environment, a steady regimen of antibiotics is necessary to keep the animals growing and alive.

In New Zealand, antibiotics can only be administered by a vet to treat sick animals, there is a 30 day waiting period before that animal can be sent to the abbatoir and violation of this rule is apparently punished mercilessly by the authorities.  I’m not sure if residues remain in the meat after 30 days, but maybe?

At this point I agree with the ranchers.  If antibiotics are used extremely sparingly and administered only by a veterinarian, then we should treat sick animals rather than let them suffer.  If that means that a small quantity of antibiotics enters the food supply, then that is a consequence that we should live with.  There’s so many variables to balance.  What do you think?