THE DISH: THE MAN STEAK

By GUEST WRITER

on 6.27.14

Photo by MICHAEL HARLAN TURKELL

Editor’s Note: We order meat online, snack on artisanal jerky and braise briskets the size of torsos. But if we’re meat freaks, Tom Mylan, owner of The Meat Hook butcher shop in Brooklyn, NY, is a like a beef cardinal. This recipe for a multi-person steak was excerpted from his meat-based primer, The Meat Hook Meat Book

T

he Man Steak is The Meat Hook’s reification of the grand pinbone steak of times of yore. It was once a common cut among butchers who aged whole drop loins in their cold boxes and cut the massive multiperson steaks for men who truly appreciated their beef. But the age of cryovaced box beef has seen the whole sirloin fall out of favor in deference to the now ubiquitous top sirloin, which is the boneless heart of the Man Steak.

MORE MEATY GP CONTENT: Gear Patrol’s Month of Beef | 10 Best Mail-Order Meat Companies | 10 Best Grills of 2014

Comprised of the sirloin with all of its various muscles intact (including the tenderloin), the Man Steak is a thing to behold. With a typical specimen weighing in at more than five pounds, it is not for the faint of heart. It takes steady nerves and an iron constitution to see it through the lengthy grilling process. Take heart, intrepid grillmaster! Because of its mass and thickness, the Man Steak suffers neglect better than any normal steak, allowing margins of error to be measured in minutes rather than seconds. And its sheer size invokes a sense of theater that will bowl over even the most snobbish of steak connoisseurs no matter how overcooked it may be.

We hope we inspire a new generation of butchers and home cooks to dust off this lost page of American beef history and enjoy the last bit of the drop loin in the way it should truly be experienced.

To cook a Man Steak, you must first find a butcher who can cut you a pinbone or flat-bone sirloin steak. This is harder than you might think, so call around before you go. Have the butcher cut the steak at least two inches thick, but three inches is better.

THE MAN STEAK

Serves 6 to 10

Ingredients:
One 2- to 3-inch-thick pinbone sirloin, 3 to 5 pounds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Special Equipment:
Instant-read thermometer

Preparation:
1. At least 2 hours before you plan to grill it, salt and pepper your monster of a steak aggressively, then let it sit out. Please don’t ignore this step or the steak will cook unevenly. 2. Now, fire up your grill so that you have nice, even, medium heat. 3. Lay the steak in the center of your grill and flip it every 2 to 3 minutes for about 15 minutes before you start checking it with a digital instant-read thermometer. You’re shooting for 125° to 135°F. The thicker the steak, the longer this will take; just be patient and bask in the aura of grilling the biggest steak in the world. Rest the steak for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Ideally, the Man Steak is served with nothing else at all.

souvenirs d'Irlande

photos Pierre Xavier

SAVERIO’S Z400

A 1983 Z400J. The kind of bike your 50 year old next door neighbour commuted to work on in the early 90′s, when you were in your teens. The kind of bike you dismissed as dull, soulless, old fashioned, practical transportation. Now the kind of bike that when given the love like this one has, you would happily part exhange your girlfriend/boyfriend for. Funny how things turn out isn’t?

This build was carried out by Saverio, a graphic designer, illustrator and artist who goes under the name of  “DSdesign Aerografie”. He’d previously built a brat style BMW R65 with his pals in the workshop, Forcelli Meccanica. And when Saverio found an unloved Z400 lurking covered in dust in the corner of an old garage, he realised he’d found his next project.

The idea was to create a bike that sits somewhere between brat style and scrambler. To achieve this, it went through several major operations. The whole bike was completely disassembled. The frame was shortened, various appendices were removed to clean things up, then the frame was sandblasted and painted. The same paint love was given to the rest of the bike, including the engine block. A tank was nabbed from another Kawasaki, it was adapted to fit, then airbrushed with a special paint.

The tachometer has been slung on the side of the bike, and the clock face has been changed from black to white. Apparently Saverio has even added “Kawasaki z400 brat style” onto the dials.  We’ll have to take your word for it mate as we can’t see from this angle. Equally, we’ll have to work our for ourselves where you’ve managed to hide the battery.  (in that little hump beneath the rear of the seat is our bet.)

The headlight was purchased from an actual flea market instead of the usual online one. The rims have been repainted, tyres replaced, new seat base made and new handlebars fitted. The handsome bell mouths were handmade, as was the silencer. Oh and the entire electrical system was rewired. In short, this build took a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Saverio says that this bike is now reluctantly up for sale as he’s itching to get on with his next project.  Now, what could it be?  What other bikes did  my next door neighbour use to wheel out of his garage and go to work on in 1993?

Thanks for sharing your work with us Saverio.  We’re impressed.

 the Bike Shed

on the road