Steak and burger snack - we're smart

Let's face it: for many people, there are few things in the world better than a well-prepared steak or burger. Here's a quick guide to both, to equip you with the basics so you can confidently say "well-done" to your waiter next time!

What is a steak?
First of all, steak is any professionally and expertly sliced piece of meat. So it doesn't matter the type of animal or the cut - a pig's leg can be a steak as well as a T-bone, although the rise of Anglo-Saxon traditions means that we call cuts of beef steak.

What cuts of beef are there?
Beef has a special cutting technique, which distinguishes between certain parts of the beef:

Brisket: this is the beef brisket that is usually boiled, stewed, smoked or grilled over a slow fire.
Plate: the back of the brisket.
Chuck: the chuck is an excellent base for goulash or stew. It is the piece of meat between the neck and the ribs. It is sufficiently fatty and is characterised by suitably lean muscle fibres.
Rib: the back of the brisket, with three different parts: rib roll - high back rib
rack and short ribs - ribbed
rib eye - rib eye: the part of the rib of beef above the ridge that is suitably fleshy and meaty. It is one of the most popular varieties in the world, with both bone-in and boneless versions.
Short loin, strip: this is called flat loin, excellent for grilling. The flavour is distinctive and unique. Composition:top loin - bone-in loin
bottom loin - tender loin
Sirloin: cross loin or sirloin, excellent for grilling and roasting.
Tenderloin: fillet mignon or fillet steak, the back of the sirloin, which is particularly rich in flavour.
Top sirloin: tenderloin
Round: the beef sirloin can be divided into two parts. The front part is known as the round flat and the back part is known as the eye of round.
Flank: the belly of the beef. It has a strong beef flavour, is fibrous and lean. A fantastic introduction to the world of steaks.
Shank: a leg of beef that is excellent for stews, goulash, sturgeon.
What are the different ways of cooking?
The terms are taken from the English:

Rare: cooked rare (52°C - 1 minute), it should be greyish brown on the outside and red on the inside according to the cookbook.
Medium-rare: (55°C - 2 minutes) medium rare: greyish brown on the outside, red inside.
Medium (point): (60°C - 3 minutes) medium rare: (60°C - 3 minutes) reddish pink inside. Most meat lovers like it this way.
Medium-well done: almost cooked through (65 °C - 4 minutes), pink inside.
Well done (bien cuit): (71 °C - 5 minutes) fully cooked, dry for the real steak fans.
What do you need to know about curing?
A good steak depends on a number of factors: the type of beef, the conditions in which it is raised, the feed and the cattle, and then the curing.

Freshly slaughtered beef needs time to achieve the most pleasant flavour and texture. After slaughter, the animal is rested for about 8-24 hours, then it is deboned, followed by maturation as a final step before roasting.

There are two types of maturation:

Wet aged: the meat is vacuumed during the process and is matured in an airtight bag for about 21 days. In this case, there is very little change in the colour and weight of the meat.
Dry ageing: in dry ageing, the meat is hung in a refrigerated chamber at 1-3°C and a humidity of about 70%. In this case, not only do the enzymes in the meat work on the curing process, as in the first case, but bacteria and moulds also help the process. This type of maturation makes the meat very succulent and characterful, with a much more intense flavour.