Beef Wellington

Most of the neighborhoods in Wellington have a personality all their own; Khandallah has great views of the bay, Thorndon has the best grocery store, and Newtown is to be avoided at night. Our suburb, Kelburn, is known for the shops which include a well-known butcher and a few good places to eat. They're nestled tightly together, so just trust me when I say they're pretty neat even if the picture doesn't seem too exciting:



We had some guests over last night (the hilarious Scottish registrar, Chris, mentioned previously, and his equally Scottish partner, Michael). Given the foreign nature of the food in the grocery stores, we elected to keep it simple by serving steak and potatoes. Ergo, I made my first trip to the famous Kelburn butcher.

I walk in and I'm greeted by the butcher himself, an amiable, middle-aged fellow with a bit of grey hair around his temples and a hint of a lazy eye. I start off by making sure I have my terminology down: "So, back home, my favorite cut of meat is a New York Strip. Is that what they call those cuts here?"

He replies in a pretty thick accent. I don't catch everything he says but it's clear that what I'm saying isn't translating (as it turns out, a NY Strip is called a porterhouse here). I tell him I'm looking for a few New York Strips and he disappears into the cooler, which (hide your eyes, vegans) was chock full of fresh carcasses, and returns with a beautiful strip loin. I tell him that's what I'm after, and he asks, "How thick d'ya want 'em?"

Hmmmm, lemme think....1.75 inches times 2.54 centimeters per inch equals....

I hold my fingers really far apart and say, simply, "thick."

He raises his eyebrows a bit, smiles, and nods. Now we're speaking the same language.

While he's cutting the steaks he starts talking about all of the hormones, corn, and antibiotics that goes into American beef, explaining that NZ beef is grassfed (Omnivore's Dilemma readers, rejoice!). Sure enough, the meat doesn't look nearly as fatty as what I'm used to. I wonder if that means it will be tough.

He comes back a minute later with three steaks that looked like this:



I knew then that he and I were going to get along famously.

The dinner was a lot of fun, and the steaks were quite tasty and not a bit tough. Chris and Michael told us some wild stories about Glasgow, and we all enjoyed ourselves so much that we agreed to meet up next time at a local cinema where you can bring your own wine and sit on couches.