In the last few years it has become an authentic kitchen superstar, being the protagonist of many Michelin-starred dishes all over the world. We are talking about the “beef cheek”, the small muscle which moves the bovine jaws during chewing. It is not considered as a top-quality cut of meat but, if carefully prepared, it becomes succulent and tasty as well as better than the most high-quality meat cuts in terms of tenderness, taste and texture. The cheek is the hardest cut of animal meat after the heart, but it is deemed to be high-quality and trendy in gourmet environments, since it is difficult to find (it is a small and limited cut; every animal has only two cheeks) as well as delicious if skilfully cooked. But be careful: as we said, the key for an excellent result is the preparation. The particular structure of this cut’s connective tissue needs low temperatures and long cooking times in order to melt and make the meat more tender and succulent. However, this will cause a significant loss in weight and an inevitable loss in the organoleptic properties, because the overly worn out tissues release the liquids contained within. Everything changes in the kitchen if we use waveco® and its induced maturation©. Thanks to its innovative technique, we can enhance all the properties of the beef cheek, significantly reduce the preparation and cooking times and always achieve an incomparable result in terms of tenderness and nutritional aspect. Let’s test waveco® with the preparation of this “Beef cheek with celeriac purée” For this recipe, use: beef cheek, herbs for the brown stock, celeriac, and wild fennel.

BEEF CHEEK

Take a 350 g beef cheek, put it into a pouch and start waveco® with the following times: 90 minutes of induced maturation© and no more than 60 minutes of cooking at a temperature of 80 °C. The first step of this process melts the connective tissues without heat and maintains all the organoleptic properties of the cheek and, the second step, the real cooking step (thanks to the low potential and vacuum temperature), cooks through to the heart of the product at the ideal temperature, reducing the cooking times and obtaining an extremely tender meat cut without any loss of liquids.

BRAISED BEEF AND BEEF STEW

We are talking about two techniques which make meats extremely tender through long cooking times at low temperatures. For braised beef, meat is initially marinated, then browned over a high flame on both sides and finally cooked for a long time. With beef stew, meat is not browned; it is added to a cooking juice and then slow cooked for a longer period of time.

Take some beef bones, roast them, put them into a bag with some water and herbs and start the induced maturation© process for about 60 minutes. This process obtains a juice by extraction, without heat and without adding fat or thickeners.

The brown stock is obtained through a slow and long cooking of animal bones, cartilage and connective tissues. It is used to enhance the preparation of the cooking juice itself or to accompany meat stews or roasted meat. Traditionally, salts and fats are added to season the mixture.

PLATING
Cut the beef cheek into four cubes (two per portion), then put the celeriac puree, prepared previously, prepared on to the plate. Lay the cheek pieces, previously lacquered in the pan, with the brown stock demi-glace obtained with the juice extracted through waveco®. Finally, decorate with a leaf of wild fennel.

CHEF FOCUS:
Thanks to induced maturation© and then to the potential for low temperature cooking with waveco® we can save time in the preparation and cooking processes of the beef cheek and obtain a succulent and tender meat, rich in nutrients. A unique result is achieved for the brown stock, which enhances the brightness and the texture of the final demi-glace: with induced maturation© you can quickly extract it cold from the bone marrow, without acidity and without adding thickeners or fats.

INGREDIENTS

• Salmon 300 gr
• Fine salt 150 gr
• Sugar 40 gr
• SUgar cane 40 gr
• Aromas to taste (lemon, lime or orange)

With the marinade time, it indicates the technique used to flavor, preserve, soften and even cook food. The food is "attacked" by the acid base and thanks to a physical-chemical process, called osmosis, the aromas (and the acid) penetrate into the fibers, flavoring and at the same time softening the food. The marinating process has very variable times that can go up to 24-36 hours. Different speech with waveco®: thanks to the induced maturation© it is possible to significantly reduce the timing of the marinade, as well as to limit the amount of salt and sugar to be used (1/10 compared to the classic method).

PROCEDURE
Clean and debon the Salmon, mix salt, sugar and flavorings, put the salmon, salt and sugar marinated in a vacuum bag and put in a vacuum, induced maturation© for 1 hour or 90 minutes depending on the thickness of the piece.

Chef: Massimo Garofoli / Mescola - Civitanova Marche (MC)

CHEF'S COMMENTS:
“Thanks to the induced maturation© we can prepare salmon in absolute food safety. The process lets us achieve a homogeneous marinade in a short time without drying the fish, leaving it tender and with its delicate flavour”.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole fresh octopus

Cephalopod meat is rich in connective fibres and therefore, to ensure that it becomes tender after cooking, it is necessary to “beat” it beforehand to break the fibre and make the meat tenderer. Alternatively, it is necessary to freeze the meat to break off the nerve fibres and achieve tenderer and tastier meats with no loss of important liquids. At the end of the waveco® process the octopus maintains its original colour, has acquired greater tenderness and will have an aroma of the sea, thanks to the lower cooking times and temperature. Furthermore, thanks to the lower bacterial count, we can consume the cephalopods directly which gives us new flavours and consistency.

PROCEDURE
Clean the octopus and separate the tentacles, put them sous vide to mature for 90 minutes, cook at 50° for an hour and then finish the cooking however you prefer (browning or grilling).

Chef: Carmine Calò / Corporate & Consulting Chef di ncg

CHEF'S COMMENTS:
Thanks to induced maturation© we can prepare octopus, avoiding the period of “frollatura” and significantly reduce cooking times, achieving a tenderer food that has preserved all its delicate nutritional qualities”.

INGREDIENTS
Lime mayonnaise

• Egg white 1
• Sunflower oil 30 gr
• Grated peel of lime and juice 1/2
• Seed oil 300 gr

Maionese alle cozze

• Egg white 1
• Seed oil 30 gr
• Mussel water 50 gr

The emulsions are all the compounds which are formed from a greasy and aqueous part together and homogeneously mixed. In order to be used in the kitchen the emulsions must be stable, thus avoiding that the fat and the water in a short time separate. The formation of an emulsion is often facilitated by the presence of osurfactant emulsifiers, molecules that have a part similar to water and a part similar to fats. At the end of the process we obtain a more stable emulsion that has retained all its organoleptic qualities without having to resort to the use of stabilizers or emulsifiers.

Lime mayonnaise
Place the egg white in a bag sous vide and mature for 20 minutes. Place the matured product and lime juice in a container and emulsify the mix with a whisk adding the other seed oil until you reach the desired consistency and flavour.

Mussel mayonnaise
Add together the water of the mussels and 30gr of seed oil, place the bag sous vide and start the induced maturation© for 30 minutes. Once this time has passed place the mix in a large glass and with the help of the emersion blender emulsify with the remaining seed oil until you reach the desired consistency.