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extremely tasty and nutrient-rich dishes. Obviously these recipes require long preparation times and slow cooking at low temperature in order to tenderise the toughest part of the meat and make it pleasant on the palate. One of the cuts used for these recipes is definitely chuck roll, which is not a premium piece of meat. It comes from the part on top of the shoulder, which is made of a large lump of muscle divided into two parts: the upper one, which is leaner, and the lower one, slightly marbled with fat.

This causes the meat to be quite tough and, in order to be consumed at its best, it necessarily needs to undergo ageing as well as a slow and prolonged cooking process, which consequently lead to the loss of liquids and, therefore, poorer nutritional and organoleptic properties of the food.

You can overcome these difficulties and save lots of time by using waveco® and its induced maturation©: thanks to this innovative technique, we can avoid meat ageing and obtain a product which has preserved all its delicate nutritional properties as well as achieve an incomparable result in terms of tenderness and shelf life.

Let’s test waveco® with the preparation of this recipe: “Sliced Chuck Roll, Rocket Pesto and Cream of Jerusalem Artichokes”

To prepare this recipe, you will need: beef chuck roll, rocket, Jerusalem artichoke mash, extra-virgin olive oil, salt to taste, rosemary.

BEEF CHUCK ROLL

Take a piece of chuck roll or a piece of beef from an area between the neck and the shoulder (48 h after slaughter) weighing about 1 kg, put it into a bag and run induced maturation© for 50 minutes. At the end of the waveco® process, which occurs without heat, the meat has kept all its nutritional properties, has not lost any weight and, thanks to its innovative technique, we have managed to melt away the connective tissue and obtained a tender and succulent meat.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: EXALTING MEAT CUTS

With waveco® we can use and therefore exalt the least noble cuts of meat: we are talking about the least fatty and extremely fibrous pieces which would normally require long ageing and cooking times, thus resulting in the loss of liquids and, as a consequence, nutrients. Thanks to induced maturation© we can consume these kinds of meat, save preparation time and achieve a premium product with regard to tenderness and taste.

 ROCKET PESTO

Take 200 gr or rocket and put it in a container with 50 ml of water and 50 ml of extra-virgin olive oil and start induced maturation© for 20 minutes; then, put the stabilised mixture into a container and emulsify it. Thanks to waveco® you will get “cold” pesto with no signs of oxidation and a significantly higher shelf life. The colour is bright and the taste is unique.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: OXIDISING VEGETABLES

Oxidation is a natural chemical process that causes decay in the appearance, flavour and nutrients of food; a process which particularly occurs in fruits and vegetables. Oxygen is the oxidizing agent par excellence. There are also other factors, such as heat and light, which act as catalysts; in other words, they do not cause the reaction but help accelerate it. Very frequently and especially in the food industry, preservatives are used to stop the chemical oxidising action of food components to preserve the quality of food.

PLATING UP

After searing a 100 gr portion of the piece of meat, cut it into three parts each approximately 1 cm thick. Using a brush, spread some rocket pesto as a base and lay the three pieces of chuck roll on top. As a side, add three clouds of Jerusalem artichoke. Finally, garnish your dish with a a pinch of rock salt on the meat and some rosemary.

CHEF FOCUS

With the induced maturation© we can use less noble meat cuts in our recipes and still get excellent results in terms of tenderness, taste and shelf life while saving time for preparation and keeping the food’s nutrients unchanged. Also, thanks to waveco® we are able to cook vegetables without heat, which prevents oxidation and consequently deterioration in the appearance, taste and nutritional value.