To meat or not to MEAT?

To meat or not to

MEAT?

THAT IS THE QUESTION, BUT IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSONAL

PREFERENCE, SAYS DURBAN FOODIE ANT ELLIS AS HE

SAVOURS A MOUTHFUL OF TENDER, JUICY STEAK

Forget the drippy universal language of love for a moment. If you ask me – and even if you don’t – the one thing we all have in common is food. We need it. We think about it. We delight in it, chat about it, and plan important occasions around it. So why then has the topic “to meat or not to meat” entered the dreaded no-go zone of religion and politics at the dinner table?

Come on dudes, we’re entitled to eat whatever suits our preferred taste, diet and budget, and we aren’t required to qualify that to anyone. We like to think we’re liberal and respectful of the choices of others, but omnivores and herbivores just don’t seem to agree.

As a meat lover, I confess to being a culprit of the funpokery perpetuated against vegetarians, vegans and those with alternative dietary narratives to my own – and it’s not just me. Is it because I think a juicy, tender-as-butter prime fillet of beef, magnificently chargrilled to medium, is the greatest thing since sliced other meat, and I can’t understand why anyone would disagree? Yeah! But maybe it’s also because I don’t like being repeatedly – and sneerily – “advised” that my food choices are cruel and inhumane. But like a rapidly growing number of us, I choose sustainable and ethically-sourced meat.

Newsflash: Snide commentary notwithstanding, we’re all kinda correct. Dieticians – including my friend Sharks rugby dietician and all-round good-gal Danielle Roberts – and doctors generally agree that animal products, including eggs and dairy, provide the highest quality “complete” protein and essential amino acids the body needs, due to high levels of bioavailability. That’s a fact. But plenty of truly delicious plant- based products, including chickpeas, quinoa, soybeans and many leafy greens, are also excellent sources of protein and other top-notch health benefits we should be eating. So, apart from personal choice and the protein debate, can’t we all just get along? Yes, of course we can.

Plantbased food isn’t a fad, a trend, or for tree-hugging hippies. In 2020, it’s a vibrant and exciting way to eat, packed with opportunity, versatility and exceptional health value – there are enough vegan markets and events, plantbased restaurants and menu items, and veggie cookbooks around to prove it. Best of all, it’s absolutely compatible with your favourite meat.

A delicious way to respect everyone at the table is with an amazing risotto. Not the daunting, labour-intensive project you’ve heard about, a killer risotto is as easy to make as it is satisfying to eat.

Easy Mushroom

and Pea Risotto with (or without)

Pan-Fried Steak

Serves two as a main dish or four as a side dish

• 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced

• 4 teaspoons butter

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 cup Arborio rice

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 1 cup white wine (the same plonk you’d drink)

• 4 cups vegetable stock

• 1 cup frozen peas

• salt and pepper

• Parmesan cheese

• fresh basil, chopped In a pan, lightly colour mushrooms in some of the butter. Season and set aside. In a sturdy pot heat olive oil, add garlic and onion, cook until soft and translucent. On a medium heat add rice and thyme, stir until all grains are coated. Add wine and stir. When everything’s moving about nicely and the boozy aroma is cooked off, add the stock, a cup at a time.

You don’t need to stir endlessly, just keep it moving every minute, and don’t let it dry out or stick to the pot. If it’s getting thick and claggy, add more stock; if it’s too wet, don’t. Add mushrooms with their liquid, and peas with the last cup of stock. Cook until stock is absorbed and the risotto is creamy. While it’s still loose, remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, dot in the butter and cover for 5 minutes. Serve with shaved Parmesan and basil.

For the meaters, serving this risotto with steak is bangin’. Cook the generously seasoned steak – fillet or sirloin are right on for this – to your liking in a screaming hot pan with butter, a couple of halved garlic cloves and some fresh thyme, basting as you go. Rest for a couple of minutes, slice thinly and smash it with buckets of ice-cold wine. Not you, kids – you get juice.

Until next time, eat what you prefer, and don’t trash the choices of others – it’s all good. Rock on!

FOR MORE INFO ant@rockthekitchen.co.za

ABOVE: Durban foodie and lover of meat, Ant Ellis.