Spanish steak is tickling the palates of foodies in trendy London restaurants.
The beef comes from retired dairy cows or working oxen, Galician Blonds, which can be as old as 14 years. The cattle will have spent most of their years in pastures.
Beef typically available comes from animals which are slaughtered when they are between 18 and 24 months old.
Top chefs are willing to pay up to £26 a kilo for the beef which is on the menu of some of the capital’s on-trend and Michelin-starred restaurants.
The high price is still considerably lower than the £90 a kilo commanded by Wagyu, the most expensive beef in the world.
Galician Blonds are native to the Spanish region of Galicia. Their milk is used to create the region’s speciality Tetilla cheese. Their meat is marbled naturally with fat created over the years, giving a deeper flavour to other beef.
But London is just discovering what diners in San Sebastián, a foodies’ haven, knew already.
Two British restaurateurs, Nemanja Borjanovic, 35, and Melody Adams, 31, stumbled on the product by chance in Bar Nestor in San Sebastián. They quickly approached Sr Nestor who put them in touch with a producer in the Basque Country.
But with word spreading quickly, supply of older cattle is already not keeping pace with demand and this is often the impetus behind steep prices hikes.
