The Intricacies of Beef

Brimmer & Heeltap's Sous Chef Dallas Dziedzic writes about the many complicated facets of the cattle industry. 

Mark Twain once noted “Sacred cows make the best hamburger,” referencing the belief that how well you treat your beef is going to determine its quality.  This outlook has recently gained in popularity in the US.  From “Prime” to the “grass fed” and even the “dry aged” there are a lot of ways to add value to beef. What do all of these terms mean, and why do they matter? 

Do you think you could visibly assess the quality of beef just by looking at it? The USDA meat graders think that you should. They rate quality based on “Prime,” “Choice,” or “Select.”  By the USDA standards “Prime” beef is from well-fed young cattle, and has abundant marbling. “Choice” is considered high quality but has less marbling than Prime. “Select” is uniform in quality but leaner than Prime or Choice. To detect these differences, the USDA will take a core section from the cow between the 12th and 13th rib, which allows them to see if the meat is speckled with white bits of fat throughout (Prime) or consisting of only red muscle (Choice).

While marbling found in the steak is prized for its flavor and ability to retain moisture, it’s not everything.  There is also the technique of “dry aging,” a process that enhances an already established flavor. The meat will mature in a controlled setting, pulling away moisture and concentrating flavor.  The fat will become buttery and taste of blue cheese; the meat will become increasingly tender and its beefy flavor will intensify. Together these characteristics create harmony within the beef like a fine salumi.

At Brimmer & Heeltap we love serving thoughtfully prepared, high quality cuts of grass-finished beef. 

“Grass feeding” is another popular topic in the cattle industry. There are in fact some grey areas and complicated details to pay attention to.  “Grass-fed” beef in the US only has to be accessible to a pasture of grass, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the cows will eat it. They may receive supplemental nutrition in the form of corn, grain, or hay. I believe what most people are thinking when they hear “grass fed” beef is something that is referred to as “grass-finished,” which means that the beef’s diet is not subjected to these supplemental grains. It will be tough to find a truly “grass finished” steak packaged in your super market. You have to get out to small town farmers that pride themselves on the quality of their beef – the kind of farmers that treat the cow like one of their own family members.

This practice is becoming more and more rare, and if it is being implemented, it tends to be a watered-down version. Commercial farms have found ways to increase their beef marketing without really increasing value. Not to mention the cattle industry creates more greenhouse gas than all of transportation combined (yes that means planes, trains and automobiles). In addition to the environmental damage greenhouse gasses cause, the commercial cattle industry uses an astounding 34 trillion gallons of water in a single year (about 2500 gallons of water per 1 pound of beef), compared to the hundred billion used for the oil industry. The cattle industry is booming, but with a booming economy comes serious environmental side effects.

If you’re passionate about cooking and eating beef at home, it’s important to know where the product comes from, and to be aware of some of the intricacies of the cattle industry. When possible, supporting the small-time, local farmer that grass finishes their beef will yield the best product.

For some information on how we approach beef and animal butchery at Brimmer & Heeltap, you can read Chef Mike Whisenhunt’s thoughts on the topic here.

Author: Dallas Dziedzic

Images: Will Foster Photography

Spring Things

“Spring looks good on you guys,” one diner commented during a recent visit. He had just shared a plate of our new-to-the-menu English pea hummus with his dining companions, and bread, rice cakes, and scallops were on the way. 

With fresh flowers lining the walls of the dining room, our garden patio open, and a pantry filled with bright, leafy ingredients, we think spring looks pretty good on us too.

One cannot help but notice just how very green Seattle is looking these days. Lush flora is springing to life again after a cold, rainy winter, and beloved sunshiny days are getting Seattleites excited to spend as much time outside as possible. Have you enjoyed dinner and drinks outside on our beautiful patio yet this season? In a recent feature for Eater Seattle, writer Jason Price calls Brimmer & Heeltap’s outdoor dining area “one of the sweetest hidden patios (complete with fire pit) in the city.”  Another article describes it as “straight up dreamy.” We love inviting guests to dine on our garden patio, especially when they didn’t even know it was there!

Inside, it’s looking quite dreamy as well. You know spring has sprung when you see fresh flowers resting cheerily in tiny vases around the dining room. Each week, proprietress Jen Doak takes care to bring in a new batch from our neighbors at Ballard Market. With soft breezes and bright light coming in through the open windows and filling the dining room, inside is just as pretty of a place as out to break bread with friends on a warm spring evening.

The thing that really makes Brimmer & Heeltap shine this time of year, of course, is our menu. With English peas, snow peas, green curry, poblano peppers, miner’s lettuce, pandan, and sorrel being utilized by the kitchen, there are an abundance of vibrant, fresh, and wonderfully seasonal offerings to choose from.

New to the menu is Chef Mike Whisenhunt's tasty English pea hummus served with homemade grilled flatbread. A play on traditional hummus, our version is made with sesame oil and served with fresh peas and pea shoots. Each bite is like a taste of spring. Scallops are also having a moment on our menu. Seared perfectly and served with pickled Cipollini onions, snow peas, and foamy, aerated poblano pepper aioli, this dish is not to be missed! Also new to the menu are rice cakes served with green curry, pea vines, pistachio and mint. This combination of ingredients makes for a dish that is comforting without being too heavy. Balanced and bright, the rice cakes are a playful, flavorful homage to spring.

Come in soon to try these new additions to our menu. Pull up a chair with friends at your favorite table, or, better yet – get cozy around the fire pit and treat yourself to an al fresco dining experience. We’ll have the rosé waiting!

Author: Caitlyn Edson

Images: Will Foster Photography

Umami’s The Word

Farro, cucumber, pickled leeks, house-made Madras curry yogurt sauce, lamb lardons...the combination makes for a surprisingly complex, umami salad.

In the small, open kitchen at Brimmer & Heeltap, something mysterious, scientific, and absolutely mouth-watering is at work. Chef Mike Whisenhunt and his team are committed to working with an element of gastronomy that can be immensely challenging to properly harness. It’s been referred to in a multitude of ways, which only adds to its allure; a delicious “flavor-bomb,” or the “fifth taste” are some of its more common descriptors.

So what is it, exactly? It’s called umami, and it’s one of the things that makes the food we serve so deeply satiating and crave-worthy.

Considered separate from the four recognized food tastes – salt, sweet, bitter, and sour - umami is loosely translated from Japanese as "a savory taste" or simply, "yummy," and can be as difficult to articulate as it can be to detect in food. According to Brimmer & Heeltap’s Sous Chef Dallas Dziedzic, common examples of umami-rich foods include tomatoes, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, fish sauce, soy, and Parmesan cheese, most of which can be found on our menu when in season.  

 “We use fish sauce throughout the menu,” points out Dziedzic, who is on a mission to form a unique umami flavor at Brimmer & Heeltap. “The house-made yogurt with the lamb lardons on the fennel salad lend some of those same mouthwatering, satiating values,” he explains. “Or even the beans on the lamb with the crème fraiche...” It’s exciting to look at the menu at Brimmer & Heeltap and try to detect which elements of our current dishes likely contain umami flavors. Simple ingredients such as locally foraged mushrooms can sometimes pack a powerful punch, and at B&H, big flavors are definitely our thing.

Chef Dallas Dziedzic has spent many hours researching and experimenting to perfect umami-rich flavors for the menu at Brimmer & Heeltap.

According to journalist Amy Fleming, “umami” was coined in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, a chemist at Tokyo University. Writes Fleming, “He had noticed this particular taste in asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat, but it was strongest in dashi – that rich stock made from kombu (kelp) which is widely used as a flavour base in Japanese cooking. So he homed in on kombu, eventually pinpointing glutamate, an amino acid, as the source of savoury wonder. He then learned how to produce it in industrial quantities and patented the notorious flavour enhancer MSG.” In addition to its loose association with the more commonly known food additive MSG, Fleming also astutely notes that umami is a “fascinating piece in the jigsaw of our gastronomic evolution.”

Umami is such a fascinating food concept that Chef Mike Whisenhunt has been hesitant to even use the word, for fear that diners wouldn't understand what it meant, and that the menu would feel less accessible to new guests. “I think it is essential that we continue to develop and make this a more conscious part of Brimmer & Heeltap’s style,” says Whisenhunt, who believes that umami has the power to contribute to the fun, bold, and playful flavors that make the restaurant’s food so unique and satisfying. Whisenhunt also acknowledges Sous Chef Dziedzic’s role in bringing umami flavors to life in the B&H kitchen. “I have to give a lot of credit to Dallas for really heading down his path of knowledge on the subject,” he says. “It inspires me.”

Dziedzic’s work with umami at Brimmer & Heeltap has involved extensive research, experimentation, and finding ways to recreate elements of MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) in a more organic way by utilizing ingredients B&H already sources. “For me, adding MSG was kind of cheating, so I looked to more natural options,” explains Dziedzic. “Learning that tomatoes, mushrooms (specifically dried shiitakes), Parmesan, potatoes, nutritional yeast along with dried and fermented fish all contain natural glutamate, was really the base of the umami bomb B&H uses.”

The Saur Broccoli Salad at Brimmer & Heeltap contains an "umami bomb" of epic proportions.

The best example of the “umami bomb” Dziedzic mentions can be found within the Saur Broccoli Salad that’s currently on the menu. The broccoli salad is comprised of a strangely satisfying combination of pickled serrano peppers, sesame seeds, popped quinoa, and black vinegar. The unlikely sum of its parts makes for a flavor experience so intense and nourishing it leaves you wanting more. Don’t just take our word for it – Seattle Refined recently named the salad among the five best vegetable dishes in the city. 

Chef Dziedzic explains that umami can be found in dishes that contain “rounded out flavors that make you want to go back for another bite.” Going back for another bite is exactly what umami is all about, and unsurprisingly, Brimmer & Heeltap is genuinely enthusiastic about food and beverages that inspire cravings among our guests. If you’re still unsure what umami is all about, we encourage you to come grab a seat at the restaurant and taste for yourself.

Author: Caitlyn Edson

Images: Will Foster.