Posted on 04/09/2006 4:26:18 PM PDT by NZerFromHK
Twenty years ago, as a struggling and penniless sous chef in Paris, Giorgio Locatelli once saved a month's salary simply to buy a cut of beef.
But then it wasn't just any cut. It was Wagyu, and it was making its European debut as the world's most expensive meat.
Yesterday he tasted it again, though this time it was free. Which was just as well, really, since the rare ingredient, imported from Japan, was the gourmet filling in Britain's most expensive sandwich - a speciality which goes on sale from tomorrow at the Sandwich Counter at Selfridge's, in Oxford Street.
So who better than Giorgio, now a celebrity chef and the owner of Locanda Locatelli, the Michelin-starred restaurant, to give it a taste run?
"It's big, isn't it,' he says, gazing at the sandwich's creator, Scott McDonald, Selfridge's executive chef, who, with the practised dexterity of a professional, slices the 21oz sandwich in two. "It'd better be, mate," says Scott, "it's £85 for a round."
But is the costly cut worth it? Well, Giorgio was certainly impressed. "Delicious," he says, struggling not to lose any of the succulent beef as he tries to get his mouth around the sandwich. "Utterly fantastic mixture of tastes. Tangy, sweet... a monster mouthful that would be a really sexy love food to share with a lover. The beef simply melts, it falls apart. I'm impressed."
Scott looks relieved. Even though £85 for a lunchtime sandwich is likely to be way beyond the means of most shoppers, he is convinced that City types won't balk at the price.
But just why does it cost so much? The quality and quantity of the ingredients give some indication.
The slices of 24-hour fermented sour dough bread are spread with a mayonnaise flavoured with foie gras (£30 a lb) and black truffle (£340 a lb). There is a generous helping of brie de meaux, considered Europe's finest cheese.
The beef itself, comprising a third of the weight of the sandwich, is a snip at £28 a pound. The meat is seared in a pan on both sides for two minutes and then basted with yet more foie gras before being chilled for 15 minutes and sliced.
English cherry tomatoes and rocket, plus peppers roasted on a naked flame and then skinned and sliced finely, complete the presentation.
"Stunning assembly, the perfect meal to go, if a bit dribbly. And the perfect hangover food,'' says Giorgio, who should know - he celebrated his 43rd birthday the night before with "a couple of drinks and then a few more''.
"In the last few years the British obsession with food to go has really expanded," he says, wiping the delicately flavoured mayonnaise from his mouth. "People don't have the same time for a sit-down lunch as they had 20 years ago. I can see this appealing to the finer palate. But the price …"
Scott is sure, however, that the Selfridge's special, cheekily nicknamed the McDonald after its creator, will be a winner.
Since the launch of the sandwich was announced last week, the store has already taken five advance orders, and, as Giorgio savours another mouthful, curious shoppers study the swiftly diminishing meal.
"Not sure I would have the cash - or the time - for one of those with my company," said George Walters, who works at a nearby bank. "But maybe to impress someone?"
Giorgio nods, neatly polishing off the last morsel. His own restaurant on Seymour Street, London, specialises in Italian food, and so does not serve Wagyu. But, over the past few years, the meat has become a regular feature at several London restaurants where a straightforward steak will set diners back around £50.
The beef's price is reflected in the luxurious conditions in which the Kobe cattle, from which the meat comes, are kept. They are raised in heated byres which nestle at the foot of the Rokko mountain range in western Japan. And nothing, but nothing, disturbs their serenity. They are fed top-quality grain and given gallons of beer to swill weekly before enjoying the ministrations of specially trained masseurs.
Each pampered beast lies in an individual stall, its swollen belly sprawling balloon-like between thick, stocky legs. Exercise is restricted to, at most, a gentle daily stroll across the grassland. The regime is one of gluttony, quaffing, sloth and obesity, with the aim of rearing animals that weigh 1,600lb - roughly twice the size of a regular cow.
The life of luxury ensures that the Wagyu meat is encased in its famed marbling of fat, while the massages aim to ensure that it is meltingly tender. And the beer? It increases the cattle's appetite, apparently.
So would Giorgio come back for another £85 sandwich? "I would actually," he says, looking at his empty plate. "It's the sort of food that would set one up for the day... although I wouldn't advise it before a hectic afternoon."
As for me, well it tasted heavenly. But perhaps a little too rich for my wallet. And my waistline. Scott reckons each sandwich contains around 2,500 calories.
"After all, it is known as the caviar of beef. Go on," he cajoles, "Have another slice.''
But having said this, Wagyu beef and foie gras are truly sensational in tastes!
The Brits would do better spending that 85 pounds at the dentist.
My vote for the most delicious sandwich is a real homegrown tomato fresh from the garden, sliced thick, placed between two slices of cheap store brand white bread, slathered with real mayo (not that imitation swill by Kraft), and a dash of salt and pepper. Yummmmmmm, pure heaven!
Grilled ham and cheese with onion, on homemade multigrain bread. I gave up cheese for Lent ... I'm DYING for a sandwich!
Fresh home-smoked bacon, lettuce, and a just picked within an hour ago sliced tomato, mayo, on a lightly toasted onion bagel from H&H in NYC.
That's a priceless sandwich. :D
I had Kobe beef in japan in the 60s, excellent!
I think they left out the part that tells what it's massaged with, the farmer takes a mouthful of GIN and
sprays the critter, working it into the skin.
Mmmmmmmmm. sure was good.
I would go a little more gourmet than you in some ways. I would want 2 to 3 slices from a freshly baked wholemeal loaf (commonly available from chain-owned bakeries here in NZ), adding fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers as vegetables, with chicken schnitzels as the meat, adding tomato relish or honey mustard as the backdrop (mayonnaise is fine, but it must be freshly made shouldn't be prepared with too much vinegar - bottled version is too sour). In New Zealand's supermarkets sandwiches like this sell at NZ$5.50 = US$3.60.
I don't like mayo - I want Dijon mustard on my sandwich, although Gulden's Spicy Brown will do in a pinch. All that other stuff - lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers - just gets in the way of the cheese. I'll have that for a salad later :=-).
LOL I was right you would even rant over a sandwich even if your rant is total bollox
LOL And the Yanks a butt lift and tummy tuck or 5
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