A Steak as Big as Your Head

Every nation has its own specific way of cutting meat – especially beef. Yet out of the myriad different meat cuts – onglet, anyone? How about a New York skirt steak? – there’s one that always shows up.

Yes, there’s just something about the T-bone. Or the Porterhouse. Or the bistecca alla Fiorentina, or the chuleta. You’ll find it everywhere from Asia to Africa, though possibly not Antarctica, usually under a range of different names.

Call it what you will – and each guide to different meat cuts will have a slightly different definition – the T-bone is a great slab of bleeding meat, about as big as your head, typically served extremely simply.

In Florence, that’ll be with a little olive oil, salt and pepper; in the US, quite often with butter, typically a flavoured butter; and in Argentina, naturally, it comes with chimichurri, the deliciously tangy herb dressing.

Experts debate the distinction between the T-bone and the Porterhouse – typically a Porterhouse is larger, with more meat, but in practise the Porterhouse is often sold as a jumbo T-bone. They also debate precisely which American porter house – a tavern selling porter beer – gave the steak its name.

Both cuts, like the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, are cut from the spine of the animal. That little circle in the top? That’s half of the bull’s spinal column.

T-bones are amazing, there’s no question of it.Yet, when it comes for the ultimate steak-fest, one needs to look a little further afield than Anglo cultures.

The Chateaubriand, a classic of French indulgence, is a jumbo cut of fillet, created for the Napoleonic era politician and diplomat François-René de Chateaubriand . Served today with a mustard or bearnaise source, it’s quite possibly the ultimate meat cut.

In theory, it’s to be shared by two people. In practise, a big eater can manage a whole one. And, if you’re looking for the purest steak indulgence, this uber-filet is the way to go.