Did anyone catch A A Gill's restaurant review on Sunday in The Sunday Times? Farmer/blogger Tom Jones emailed me about his review of a well known, relatively new steakhouse in West London called Hawskmoor. Apparently he gave it something of a hammering, but within the article he also made an in depth comment/dissection of the poor state of the British beef industry.

I can't access it because of the paywall on the The Times website - anyone know any more about what he had to say?

 Thanks to Lizzyno for sending me a copy of The Times article. I can't reproduce it all here, but here's a flavour of what he was saying:

"...the British beef market is falling behind in terms of quality and care, which will be hard for some people to hear, because beef is really rather an Englishman’s thing: le rosbif, the happy boast about the Bunteresque supremacy of the black Angus, and the Johnny Foreigner-deflating horseradish and mustard. Well, it isn’t that great. Only one parent of a black Angus has to be black for the meat to be called black Angus, and the margins and the profits in the beef industry have been pared to the bone. There is a lot of corner-cutting, a lot of trying to overcome quality deficiencies and producing to price. It’s marketed with hype about organics, with prose and pictures on the labels and, I suspect, quite a lot of porky pies. Most of the steak in this country is badly bred, skimpily fed, underaged, coarsely butchered, condom-wrapped and offered in the hope that tradition and reputation will pick up the bill."

 
He doesn't hold back does he...

 Nice, now get out there and show the public he is wrong!!

He,s probably having a dig at the new Tesco con selling black Angus beef from the US.

As long as theres at least 50% black colouration of the animals coat it can be called a black Angus. No need for any Angus genetics, if what I,ve read is true. Sounds perfect for Holstien bulls.

The problem is, if you take into account the majority of our food is now sold through supermarkets, and a lot of that on the budget branding, there is probably some truth in what he says.

The tricky bit is to steer (ha-ha! Unintentional pun there!!) people towards more traditional butchers, whether they be on farm or in dedicated shops, without bringing the whole of beef down by slagging off supermarket techniques.

He's right in that there is some awful beef served in this country - but he seems to conveniently forget the wonderful beef you can get.

There’s been a real renaissance in traditional breeds in the last few years and, combine that with the better appreciation of how meat should be treated (before and after the animal dies), and the situation is far more positive than he suggests.

Besides, I've never trusted anyone who uses their initials in that way. It's pretentious.

In case you're wondering, though, the AA stands for Adrian Anthony...

There's been a really mixed reaction to this on Twitter.

A lot of people strongly disagree with AA Gill's "terrorist attack on British beef industry" (@richardpope)
Others think he "makes some very very good points about the state of british beef" (@anpburgers)

One of Mr Gill's claims was that there’s “not much you can do to rescue a badly bred and underhung sirloin". The Ginger Pig (the butchers who supplied the beef) responded saying that all their beef is hung for a minimum of 30 days on the farm, and that they'd be happy to show him around the farm. Which is probably about the most sensible and dignified response they could have given.

 Won't make me popular, but the worst beef I ever ate was a hamburger in Scotland. 

i apologise kansas, i would have to be starving before i ate a british burger. i blame the war, when EVERYTHING was utilised.

unless my wife made it.

beef is rarely properly hung here, as the accountants dont allow it.

accountants can ruin anything, given the chance.

kansasfarmer:

 Won't make me popular, but the worst beef I ever ate was a hamburger in Scotland. 

In its defence, there was probably very little of what you know as beef in your burger!!

I love a GOOD beefburger, (our local slaughterhouse does the best I've ever tasted) but I won't touch those supermarket things if I'm offered one at a bar-be-que.

glasshouse:

beef is rarely properly hung here, as the accountants dont allow it.

accountants can ruin anything, given the chance.

  Alex Salmond was an accountant.

Your wellcome to try one of are burgers kansas but i dont think i better put one in the post

i think salmond was an economist, big difference from an accountant.

an economist tells the govt what to do,

accountant tells govt what it has done.

My mistake there, Glasshouse. (One deals with the facts and the other manipulates them).

   KF, the worst hamburger I have ever tasted was also in Scotland. I had to wait for my daughter for an hour and popped into a nearby McDonalds' (for the first time ever) for a coffee. As I sat trying to drink it I decided to try a hamburger on the grounds that I shouldn't criticise something without trying it first. I took a second bite of it to convince myself that the first one had tasted so bad. I threw the rest into the bin. It was disgusting.

   There has certainly been a big swing away from quality to economy in the beef production since the seventies. (I suspect this is what Glasshouse is saying when he says the accountants are to blame, - fair enough too). Sadly, the A-A breed society opened up their herd book too liberally in the late 70's and the breeders today are still trying to get that outstanding quality of the old breed but with the combination of size and quicker maturity. I rather suspect that a more than slight touch of Canadian holstein is still proving a little thraun to eliminate. I wish them well in their efforts.

   A few years ago I bought sirloins from a very good butcher. They were a little pale and lacked a bit of marbling. They were from continentals (I suspect as that was on his certificate). The taste and eating experience reflected the appearance - very disappointing. At the same time I used to frequently buy sirloins packet as "Scottish" in Somerfields which were deep coloured and well marbled. These were excellent steaks. It makes you think.

   On the bright side. I do think there has always been a niche for high quality beef production in this country and it is growing.

racheljones:

I can't reproduce it all here

No but, yes but it is here but http://www.victorchurchill.com/wp-content/uploads/TableTalk_AAGill.pdf 

I just love the way murdoch wants to make people pay, he just don't get the internet. It is all out there which is why farmers can't hide away from things like transparency in husbandry and use of weedkillers.

If you want people to pay for something then you have to give them a good reason. I will have to read it now [ I will be back with my usual uniformed and lack of comprehension]. Gill is a supercilious wind-up merchant and he does not care who it is just remember that girl on a bike story.

I have stopped taking the Sunday Times as  I have rationalised reading to Observer, sunday tory graph, Financial Times and economist at weekend now. I used to get torygraph of a saturday and ST on sunday - interesting eh? Not.

motley:

I will have to read it now [ I will be back with my usual uniformed and lack of comprehension].

Read it on the train on the way to smoke yesterday. My take is he is into the under hung beef produced by supermarkets and the way in which BSE has stopped us producing the mature beef that is produced from grazing in other countries. But at the end of the day it is Gill we are reading here and he has to be taken with a large pinch of salt. He is like so many it is bad news that sells. Too much of our beef has come out of cull cows and dairy sector grain fed, this ain't quality beef, now I know you are going to say that just ain't so because of laws and econmomics, but Gill is an old got way over 50 and he ain't up to date on farming. Why don't FW ask him to an interview or a critic of farming.