What can you call a steak that is 1.7kg and has a bone almost 40cm long. An arm steak – no, we call it a Belcampo premier prime rib steak. The steak is tasty, not fatty at all and is most probably due to the fact that it eats grass, and is not fed diet of corn to fatten it up.

The term “primal cut” is quite different from “prime cut”, used to characterise cuts considered to be of higher quality. Since the animal’s legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.

The ribeye comes from the upper portion of the loin of beef. It is served bone-in. The bone-in ribeyes are distinguished by different names such as Prime Rib, Cowboy Steak, Tomahawk Chop, and Flintstone Steak. Each refers to the length of rib left on the ribeye. It is like a rib roast it is so large.

This is the portion of the front quarter which is separated from the chuck and 107 brisket by a straight cut passing between the 5th and 6th rib; and from the plate by a straight cut passing across the ribs at right angles to the first cut at a point slightly below (ventral to) the centre of the rib cage.

Source:http://www.canadabeef.ca/ca/en/beef_export/products/rib.aspx

I seared the steak on the stove top, de-glazed it with mirin and shoyu and seasoned the steak with the usual, garlic, paprika, etc. Then it went into the oven at 150°C, and I waited until I hit a core temperature of 48°C. The end result was perfection, a juicy steak with plenty of choices on the bone; centre cut, the surrounding and leading edge.

If you are wondering who is Belcampo, it is the vision of Anya Fernald, and the heart of the business is a meat market where she controls every step of production, from the raising of the animals to processing, butchering and aging. You can see all the cuts laid out in the service cases in the retail butcher store in Santa Barbara.