January 21st 2021
Today I don’t even know what an ox is but I had one of its cheeks for dinner. I think it’s like a big cow. It might just be a cow. Or it might not be a cow. Either way, it has big cheeks.
There’s this restaurant near my work called Settebello, and at minimum once per week we inevitably go there for a steak-induced destress. One of the dishes there is an ox-cheek Ragu which, as I’ve come to learn, translates to “ox cheek takes fucking ages to cook”. Like a full four hours. It starts as the toughest meat you’ve ever encountered — basically rubber, and four hours later it falls apart with a stern look.
Don’t we all.
It’s basically the longest pasta you’ve ever cooked, It is so worth it though. Four hours later and you fork a forkful into your mouth and somehow it melts.
The only thing that could have made it better is if we could all have been in a restaurant like the good old days.
Until tomorrow, maybe soon.
Jacn
That’s amazing what slow cooking can do to even the toughest of meats. I have never had ox cheek before. But who knows, maybe some day!
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I was amazed how tender it got! Could barely stick a knife through the cheek at the start
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