Comeback Celebration: UK Beef Butchery Showcase Held at Solaire
To celebrate the forthcoming return of the UK beef in the Philippine market after 20 years of absence, the British Embassy held a butchery showcase Friday, September 20 at the Solaire Resort & Hotel, featuring C & K Meats from Eastern England and attended by the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy Richard Graham MP, and British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce.
UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy Richard Graham MP (leftmost) and British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce (2nd from right) with Kevin Burrows of C & K Meats (2nd from left)
As a preview of how robust and delicious beef from the UK is, Kevin Burrows of C & K Meats came to represent British beef and demonstrate different parts and cuts of the beef Burrows himself brought. The beef was air-dried for five weeks in a closed zero-temperature room – a process that is said to stimulate the good bacteria and kill the bad bacteria.
Kevin Burrows effortlessly demonstrated the art of butchery.
Seemingly without effort, Burrows sawed and knifed his way through the huge chunk of meat on his table, producing eight different cuts like T-bone, New York strip, Cote de boeuf (bone-in ribeye), rump fillet, and more.
Kevin Burrows cuts every part of the meat with passion and expertise.
Eight cuts of beef were presented in the end.
For Burrows, from the butchery to the serving of the beef, keeping it simple is the best. It is important to let natural flavors come out of the meat so that one can truly savor the rich taste of beef. And indeed, the samples of fresh raw beef came out as delicious, chewy, and mild to the taste.
Dishes that further highlight UK beef were also served during the program, like the beef carpaccio with stilton beignets, pickled mushroom and baby cress as the appetizer, and slow-cooked British beef tenderloin with green peas mousseline, roasted baby carrots and potato fondant as the main course.
UK Beef carpaccio with stilton beignets, pickled mushroom and baby cress
Slow-cooked British beef tenderloin with green peas mousseline, roasted baby carrots and potato fondant
For British butchers like C & K Meats, provenance, quality and sustainability are the pillars of the business they call passion. They veer away from using growth hormones and antibiotics, producing only all-natural beef. Operating since 1994, C & K Meats has also been striving to go green and carbon-neutral.
The UK Embassy promises that gourmets and big eaters will soon taste UK beef again in hotels and first-class restaurants in the Philippines. They hope to export to the Philippines the first batch of beef by the end of this year.
Written by Rizelle “Rei” Leaño
