Fat-Phobia.

It is not uncommon to hear butchers and chefs entone the phrase, "Fat is flavor!" They say that when doing a side by side taste test of very lean cuts from venison, elk, and beef without any fat involved, it's hard to tell the difference. The truth in this may be up for debate, yet the point still stands; even minimal fat goes a long way to shape our eating experience.

How much fat to leave on?

For those of us with lingering fat phobias from the 1980's and '90's American war on fat, start with a 1/4inch fat cap on your steaks and make sure to get a good, hot sear directly on the fat cap. Once comfortable with this, try moving up to a 1/2inch fat cap.

Here are NY strip steaks with the fat cap cut to 1/2inch:

Here are untrimmed NY strip steaks:

You may ask, why would anyone want something untrimmed with that much fat?

Cooking with this much fat can make the end result that much more flavorful. Even if this much fat grosses you out, you can use the fat to your advantage during cooking, and then trim most of it off before plating and serving it. Meanwhile, the lean meat has benefited from the inclusion of fat during cooking.

Open flame cooking, grilling, and sous-vide methods are great choices for cuts with a jumbo fat cap.

The Picanha (Brazilian) or Sirloin Cap is worth mentioning for it's glorious fat cap. Please always keep 1/4inch of fat on this cut, at minimum. It can be sliced into steaks or cooked as a whole roast:

The story of fat does not end at deliciousness. Fat is incredibly useful for a host of other purposes. Beef fat, known as Tallow, can be rendered and used to make soap and candles.

Fat is the gift that keeps on giving. And remember, dietary fat does not correlate to stored body fat. (This means, eating fat does not necessarily transfer to bodyfat. There are other processes that determine how much fat your body decides to store.) This myth was debunked years ago.

I would love to see more enjoyment of, and appreciation for, what animal fats have to offer!

#flavorsuetmarblingtallowtallowsoap