Best Dry Aged Steak in Los Angeles County?

I like wood.

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I’ve yet to meet someone who actually prefers the funk strong and unobstructed by wood, maybe someone who’s really into blue cheeses? I just recall Nick & Stef’s being just the right amount of dry-aged funkiness and wood, and I kept saying “this is really nice. Wow this steak… it’s really nice” like an idiot over and over at the table.

I’ve seen people eat straight gorgonzola and inhale with it in their mouth like it’s the best thing they’ve ever smelled, so… not gonna rule it out per se :joy:

If dry-aged beef has been trimmed properly, it’s not that funky.

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I’m confused, is this unusual? (says someone who does, on occasion, inhale small amounts of gorgonzola and never thought twice about it)

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Me too. Isn’t that the best way to enjoy a good cheese?

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I guess I’m not quite sure what you’re asking?

The smell is certainly polarizing. I think those who find it pleasant enough to inhale it so thoroughly without reservation to be in a minority (relative to the general population). I think we can all agree on that.

Do I find a desire to consume through smell or taste the pure funk of dry aged beef, unobstructed by wood to be strange, uncommon or special? No, but I would argue that it’s not for everyone. Hope this clarifies.

Which general population?

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The world’s? 70% of planet earth’s cheese consumption occurs in North America and Europe (Mikkelsen, PM Dairy Consulting), which represents ~18% of the world population. Let’s assume from that subset that an overwhelming majority of people who consume cheese claim a blue cheese as a pleasant smelling variety… you probably know where this is going.

Which is to say cheese hasn’t really taken with most of the world quite yet, the most recent NIH statistics citing a ~35% human population rate of lactase persistence after infancy, a very general way of showing a lack of dairy consumption in non-Western countries (funnily enough, a study published by Mario Del Piano et al. in a June 2012 issue of Nutrafood found that most forms of Gorgonzola are lactose free). Though popularity of cheese consumption is on the rise, I wouldn’t go so far as to say popularity of Gorgonzola cheese is anywhere near a majority in any general sense, especially given how polarizing it is even in cheese consuming populations.

That said, I myself enjoy blue cheeses, and am curious as to how many Chow—err, Food Talk Central folks also like it!

PS I’m not gonna sniff the crap out of it unless there’s a hell of a wine pairing afoot, no pun intended

Apologize for errors, typed this in the bathroom on my phone

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Please don’t destroy our spirited, if uninformed, discussions here with science. It makes the natives nervous.

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I suppose when it comes to fermented foods with pungent smells, everyone draws a line somewhere. If you find dry-aged beef challenging and think Gorgonzola has an unpleasant smell, you’re drawing the line pretty close to the start of the spectrum. Do you like stinky tofu?

I don’t think those foods are polarizing among the French, Italians, English, or other cultures that have a tradition of making them, and it’s pretty much irrelevant in cultures that don’t.

Most aged cheeses have only trace amounts of lactose, since the lactic-acid bacteria that create the curds convert it to lactic acid. That study investigated whether Gorgonzola dolce, which is relatively fresh, had more lactose than regular Gorgonzola, and found that it doesn’t.

And I thought I was handwavy lol

looks like you weren’t kidding :joy: well, it was nice meeting you all! hope to be of some help around here in due time.

so, to recap: @robert pretty sure I stated outright that I enjoy blue cheese, did not make any reps about my preferences for pungent or stinky foods, just made what I felt was a seemingly innocuous statement out of consideration for others that it wouldn’t surprise me if people did enjoy it without the presence of wood. this detail became the sword you wanted to fall on, attack and report abuse over which I find oddly charming. I tried to add to the discussion by opening up some facts on the consumption of dairy worldwide and the unlikelihood of blue cheeses being more commonly loved than not… you then made some derivative comments on some of my comments to add to the discussion/express your knowledgeability in a subject, which i found marginally helpful, and then made some passive aggressive strawman argument about my preferences… that part wasn’t so helpful

Joined 4 days, and posts are already getting flagged… hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Nah, I think she was from chowhound IIRC. Hope she stays More people contributing makes this a stronger community.

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I agree. 1000 views, and 35 ish posts? I believe a lot of potential posters get scared off.

I didn’t see anything flag worthy. I thought it was an interesting discussion.

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Same here - i don’t quite understand why the posts were flagged…

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Weirdest thing, I’m getting emails during a meeting about posts getting flagged and I’m thinking “Wow! What happened?!” Come back here and everything looks fine. Anyway, appreciate the love.

Oh— I’m not a girl, (don’t worry, my boss thought I was a girl when he hired me, too). I’m just a fat guy who likes to eat everything. I thought people shared insightful tidbits here, especially as it pertains to the SGV. I’ve got tons of respect for Jim Thurman and I’ve lurked him posting around here, so thought I would join up out of respect to his contributions and doing what I could to add to the discussions.

PS - I’m never scared! But I also don’t take kindly to ideological bullying, citing apocrypha and handwavy arguments. I think it’s really important to show and not tell when it comes to food, and the vast majority the FTC community does a great job with such detailed explanations, photos, and anecdotes from firsthand accounts.

But enough about me, some questions to you all:

  1. How many folks on FTC really like the funk of dry aged steak by itself without wood fire? Where would be a good place to get that?

  2. Is there a correlation between approval of that funk and an affinity for blue cheese?

  3. Is there a point where you think a meat might be aged too much? Is there a sweet spot? (28-day, 90-day, etc.)

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I’m not a meat connisseur, so I’m not sure. I think I’ve had burgers at places (don’t ask me to name them b/c I can’t remember) where posters have said that there was a great “beefy” flavor. Does dry aged result in a big beefy flavor? I don’t recall getting “beefy” from those burger(s), and I don’t actually recall particularly enjoying those burgers.

I do love blue cheese, though.

I think your “original” point or question was confusing to me simply b/c we’re on a food board. Almost by definition, we are already a small percentage of the population (esp in the US, I think), so what is unusual in the general population might be rather common here. :slight_smile:

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