Beef Basics

Beef Basics

Primal Cuts of Meat

Primal Cuts of Meat

Grades of Beef

Grades of Beef

Cuts of Beef from the Short Plate

Cuts of Beef from the Short Plate

Cuts of Beef from the Rib

Cuts of Beef from the Rib

Cuts of Meat from the Short Loin

Cuts of Meat from the Short Loin

Cuts of Beef from the Sirloin and Tenderloin

Cuts of Beef from the Sirloin and Tenderloin

How to Make Papas a la Huancaina

How to Make Papas a la Huancaina

How to Make Striped Bass Ceviche

How to Make Striped Bass Ceviche

 How to Make Rocoto Relleno

How to Make Rocoto Relleno

Beef Basics

Beef Basics

Healthy Grilled Shrimp And Veggies

Healthy Grilled Shrimp And Veggies

Grilled Asian Vegetable Salad

Grilled Asian Vegetable Salad

Healthy Grilled Fruit

Healthy Grilled Fruit

Atomic Deviled Eggs

Atomic Deviled Eggs

Hot Off The Grill Kabobs

Hot Off The Grill Kabobs

Simple Grilled Smashed Potatoes

Simple Grilled Smashed Potatoes

Healthy Feta Turkey Burgers

Healthy Feta Turkey Burgers

Classic Fall-Off-The-Bone BBQ Ribs

Classic Fall-Off-The-Bone BBQ Ribs

Healthy Grilled Shrimp And Veggies

Healthy Grilled Shrimp And Veggies

Grilling Sizzling Steaks With Flavor

Grilling Sizzling Steaks With Flavor

Tasty Grilled Tuna Steaks

Tasty Grilled Tuna Steaks

Hot Dog Grilling Guide

Hot Dog Grilling Guide

View more ...

Victor Albisu

Chef

www.bltsteak.com  

(202) 689-8999

Victor Albisu may have been born in northern Virginia, but he seems “born” with Latin food in his blood. Victor’s mother is Peruvian, his father is Cuban; one grandfather was a baker; and two aunts owned their own restaurants in Miami – Latin food was central to his upbringing. In fact, he doesn’t have a single childhood memory that doesn’t involve some delectable Latin cooking or other. Then he went to le Cordon Bleu. But that’s getting ahead of the story. Victor spent every summer through his teens with family in Miami, pressing his first sandwiches at age five, mastering steaks a la plancha by seven, and paying close attention as his grandfather killed, gutted, and roasted whole pigs and caught, cleaned, and fried whole fish; while his grandmother made the rice and beans, empanadas and croquettes. Back at home, his mother, a great cook in her own right and owner of a Latin grocery store, reinforced his culinary bent. In high school, Victor apprenticed with the Argentine and Uruguayan butchers at his mother’s shop. “Beef in Argentina is like wine in France,” he explains, “the style of butchering is distinctive, and the trade is highly respected.” Working six days a week, often until 9 o’clock at night, he learned not only about cutting meat, but making chorizo (sausages) and matambres (stuffed meats) and just about everything else about the Argentine meat culture. Victor’s family had always promoted a lively interest in international politics, and when he went off to George Mason University, he planned to make that his career. In five years, he completed two degrees, but after graduation it took just a few years working with international contractors for USAID to learn that the theoretical side of international affairs interested him much more than the practical. So at age 24, he sold everything, moved to Paris, and enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu. He received his basic, intermediate and superior diplomas in cuisine, pastry, and wine, performing his internship at Arpège, a 3-star Michelin restaurant. “There I was living in the thick of Les Halles, keeping restaurant hours and woken at six every morning by a fishmonger yelling about scallops – I loved every minute of it.” Back in the states, Victor was hired as Executive Sous Chef under David Craig at The Tabard Inn, moving with him to La Bergerie in Alexandria, Virginia. From there, he went on to work at Washington’s 701, Ardeo, and Bardeo. He then became Chef de Cuisine at Ceiba restaurant and is currently pursuing his own ventures.

Grades of Beef

Chef Victor Albisu discusses grades of beef.

This expert: 195,052 views
This series: 70,738 views

Download to Mobile Device

Print

Transcripts

Victor Albisu: Hi, my name is Victor Albisu. I am the Chef de Cuisine here at BLT Steak in Washington, DC. We are talking about beef basics. Today, more specifically, we are talking about different grades of beef. Here at the restaurant, we specialize in Prime and Certified Black Angus beef. Prime is not so easily found in your local butcher shops or grocery stores, but what you will generally find is 'Choice' which is the majority of the meat that the USDA approves. Certified Black Angus is a higher level of Choice. In that, the grading system comes more from the intramuscular fat within the beef or the marbelization within the actual muscle which intensifies flavor and tenderness. There are all different types of rating, there is also 'Select' which we do not use here at the restaurant, but you see those a lot in the grocery stores. But I would always recommend to somebody to go with either Choice or Prime. Although, Prime is a little bit more difficult to find, because it is only 3% of all the beef produced is Certified Prime. There are also different kinds of meat that we get here at the restaurant namely, the Japanese Wagyu or the Kobe beef that they refer to. Kobe is actually, the area in Japan where it comes from, Wagyu is the actual cattle. 'Wa' implying that it's Japanese and 'Gyu' implying that it's actually cattle. It has the most intensified marbling within the actual muscle and it is very rich in Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, making it a very clean, although fatty piece of meat. Next, we will be talking about different cuts of meat and showing you the places they come from.

Beef Stock - Equipment

Beef Stock - Equipment

Beef Stock - Ingredients

Beef Stock - Ingredients

Beef Stock - Preparing the Bones

Beef Stock - Preparing the Bones

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop an Onion

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop an Onion

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop a Carrot

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop a Carrot

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop Celery

Beef Stock - How to Coarsely Chop Celery

Beef Stock - Combining the Ingredients

Beef Stock - Combining the Ingredients

Beef Stock - How to Boil

Beef Stock - How to Boil

Beef Stock - How to Finish and Strain

Beef Stock - How to Finish and Strain

Beef Stock - Storing

Beef Stock - Storing