Steak, Mark Schatzker
Steak, Mark Schatzker
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Steak
One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef

Author: Mark Schatzker

Narrator: Mike Lenz

Unabridged: 12 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/06/2020

Categories: Cooking, Nonfiction


Synopsis

The definitive book on steak has never been written-until now

"Of all the meats, only one merits its own structure. There is no such place as a lamb house or a pork house, but even a small town can have a steak house." So begins Mark Schatzker's ultimate carnivorous quest. Fed up with one too many mediocre steaks, the intrepid journalist set out to track down, define, and eat the perfect specimen. His journey takes him to all the legendary sites of steak excellence—Texas, France, Scotland, Italy, Japan, Argentina, and Idaho's Pahsimeroi Valley—where he discovers the lunatic lengths steak lovers will go to consume the perfect cut. After contemplating the merits of Black Angus, Kobe, Chianina, and the prehistoric aurochs—a breed revived by the Nazis after four hundred years of extinction—Schatzker adopts his own heifer, fattens her on fruit, acorns, and Persian walnuts, and then grapples with ambivalence when this near-pet appears on his plate.

Reminiscent of both Bill Bryson's and Bill Buford's writing, Steak is a warm, humorous, and wide-ranging read that introduces a wonderful new travel and food writer to the common table.

About Mark Schatzker

Mark Schatzker is an award-winning writer based in Toronto. He is a radio columnist for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and a frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail, Conde Nast Traveler, and Bloomberg Pursuits. He is the author of The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor and Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef.


Reviews

Goodreads review by яᴏx on April 10, 2023

Not a recipe book. I wasn’t expecting so much science on what chemicals give meat its flavour and how the diet of cow’s can affect that flavour. In fact, I wasn’t expecting science at all. I was entirely interested the whole time, which doesn’t often happen for me when I read books that have a lot o......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on June 15, 2019

A fun book to read. Unsurprisingly, if you are not inherently interested and curious in the subject (ie steak) the book won't be enjoyable. However, if you are a steak lover and enjoy experimentation, tastings, and methodological approaches to discovery, this is up your alley - consider this the Wir......more

Goodreads review by Lissa1229 on May 16, 2010

This book made me hungry! It was intresting tale of ones man hunt for the perfect steak. Being from the midwest, I love steak and I like a good quest, so I was excited to read this. The author was good at discribing thing especially a bad steak or a good one. I liked his anology of how people will nit......more

Goodreads review by Mike on July 27, 2021

A must read for any steak lover (trite but true). Author Mark Schatzker takes us through his journey to different places (Texas, France, Scotland, Italy, Japan, Argentina, and Canada), to learn about each region’s respective approach to making the perfect steak. Each chapter is also inter-spliced wi......more

Goodreads review by Brian on August 22, 2021

This book was excellent. As a farmer and a rancher that is attempting to transition to regenerative agriculture, this book really spoke my language. We have finished our home raised calves for years on corn, and we just recently started experimenting with grass finishing. I was skeptical, but my wif......more