Mark Schatzker
Several years ago, after cutting into one bland steak too many, the award-winning travel writer Mark Schatzker asked himself: Why do some steaks taste better than others? That apparently simple question resulted in his first book, “Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef.” Schatzker visited four continents and seven countries — including Scotland, Japan, and Argentina — in an attempt to understand the much loved but terribly misunderstood meat. Among his numerous revelations — our love of fat may be responsible for our large brains; the primitive cattle painted on cave walls in Europe appear to be superbly well finished; thin steaks are underrated — perhaps the most extraordinary is that everything Americans think they know about steak is wrong.Great steak is not about corn, and it’s not about marbling. And it sure ain’t simple. The best steak Schatzker ever ate was grass fed. And yet, so was the worst. But after logging more than fifty thousand miles and eating several hundred pounds of steak, this all too skinny Canadian says he has some answers.
Schatzker is a food, travel and humor writer and a frequent contributor to Condé Nast Traveler. His writing has appeared in New York, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and has been excerpted in Best American Travel Writing. In 2007 he traveled around the world in 80 days — without flying — to celebrate Condé Nast Traveler’s 20th anniversary. He lives in Toronto with his wife and three children, where he is acolumnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper.
Here is what some folks have to say about the book Steak:
A deep dive into a delicious subject
By Tomas
This review is from: Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Steak. What I found was an excellent blend of travelogue, food writing, personal journal, and scientific discourse. The book is enjoyable from beginning to end. There is an honesty to the writing, suggesting a deep fascination and passion for the subject matter – steak. And that leads the author to discuss more than just opinions, more than just subjective descriptions of good food that may or may not be accessible to the average person. Schatzker travels all over the world to attempt to uncover why people love steak, what makes steak taste good, and what is wrong with mass produced commoditized beef. He writes about the food and flavor science in an ease that is reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell or Atul Gawande. The complexity of the subject matter is explained in a story like fashion and that makes it highly digestible (pardon the pun) and fascinating. For a book that is educational, fun and even at times touching, I highly recommend this book.
Most Complete Book Ever
By Paul
This review is from: Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
Most complete book ever written on the hows and whys of producing the best flavored beef. Also a very enjoyable read for anyone interested in the culture of eating.
Lots of fun, lots of information — a great read!
By Edward
This review is from: Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
I enjoy “single subject” books like Rice, Sugar, Salt, The Founding Fish, Caviar and so forth. And I have been a perfect-steak-searcher for years. Some background: when I was a kid, my father, whose father was a butcher,would go in with a friend and buy a “side” of beef. He’d have it delivered to the local butcher where it would hang to become “dry aged.” On Saturdays we’d go to the butcher shop and watch the butcher scrape off the mold and trim off the dried-out edges and deftly cut off two strip steaks 2 1/4 inches thick. The meat was crimson and “marbled” with intricate traceries of fat. Dad would cook the steak in an iron skillet (as the French do). Always rare. When done he’d put it on a warm plate and then pour red wine in the pan, add a pat of butter, swirl it around over high heat to make a sauce which he’d poured over the steak on the serving plate. That ritual turned me into a steak aficianado.
Schatzker’s book is a steak lover’s feast. He explores the merits of grass or grain fed beef and much more while taking you on a carnivorous journey around the world, a journey that will introduce you to the most subtle and delightful differences between extraordinary steak and ordinary meat.
An excellent and entertaining read
By C. J.
This review is from: Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
This is a book that all serious foodies (like myself) will enjoy. Even the most dedicated vegan should find the information about the agricultural and industrial aspects of putting a steak on the plate to be fascinating. Mr Schatzker has a very readable style of writing and I raced through this book in two afternoons. Very enjoyable.
