Friday, April 20, 2007

The value of a good steak

When you crave something so badly for three weeks, what do you do?
You cave.
Three weeks of craving steak, I caved. Sure I've caved before with other things-brisket, enchiladas, pie, chocolate, and other foods- but I had never gone so long without eating the meal I wanted. I was even going to put it off for another three weeks, I don't think I could have survived that.
When you crave something for so long, you end up going crazy. How people can go without bread, or chocolate or other scrumptious foods is beyond me.
I might add that this was the first such craving for steak since eating meat, again. I had been worried that steak and other fatty meats would have made me sick afterwards. I found that lean brisket didn't, but would a juicy steak do the trick? I didn't know and with my school schedule didn't want to find out until this week.
After craving steak for so long where do you go to enjoy such a meat?
Well, if your craving a very good ribeye, hanger steak, or really good fries. I'd suggest Lambert's in Austin. I had photographed there before for my internship and wanted to go try their menu. It was the first time in a long time, when I couldn't decide what I wanted. Everything struck me as something I could possibly enjoy-brown sugar and coffee brisket, mustard and brown sugar ribeye, a dry aged NY strip, and many other delectables. I asked the waiter for advice, he described all in a salvating way that it did not help the choice I needed to make. Then he told me that the best meat he liked was the ribeye, so I decided to go with his expertise choice. Along with fries of course.
My friend along with me, again, had the hard time of making a decision. After minutes of contemplation over the menu and a discussion with me, he decided to go for the hanger steak and mac 'nd cheese.
Soon the "meat and potatoes" meal of America came before me. I looked at the steak, realizing once again, why meat is so tasty and delicous. I picked up my knife , cut right in and took a bite. The steak had a sweet taste from the brown sugar, but I missed the taste of mustard. No matter. I scarfed it down along with the fries. The fries were herbed and covered in paprika. Very tasty. They were crisp waffle fries that weren't soggy and no oil was to be seen on the parchment paper. The way fries should be. I scarfed them down, too.
My friend must have thought that I was ravenous. Well, one I was, but the food. The food was a dance in my mouth that I didn't want to stop. Except for the mac 'nd cheese. It was a soupy mess that had no flavor. A mac 'nd cheese should be stringy and baked through and through not just the top. After the meal was over, I looked at my plate, wishing for another steak to appear, but sadly it didn't. The same with the fries. We paid the bill, declining dessert, and walked out into the Texas sun.
How'd it feel to have a steak, again?
It was absolute freedom. As a Texan, not eating meat is considered a sin. The only exception lies in Austin. And I didn't get sick. So bring on the steak!

3 comments:

Lisa Fain (Homesick Texan) said...

You're so right about Austin--the only time I've tried being a vegetarian in my life was when I lived there. That said, bbq sauce on tofu just didn't have the same appeal as meat so I soon gave up the effort. And now I want a thick, juicy steak!

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

"I was ravenous..." Yes you were. I was stunned by how quickly your steak was just an after image while you blink your eyes. It really was a nice evening out. The one thing that I really enjoyed about the evening was the company and the brief two block walk back to my car afterward. The mac n' cheese was a dissapointment, I'm thinking of sending my mom's recipe to the chef just to give them an idea of how backed mac n' cheese should be. I hope to do it again soon.