Overheard a new guy say he's never dry-aged beef, kinda blew my mind

So there's this kid who just started at the shop last week, maybe 19 years old. I'm breaking down a ribeye roll and he's watching me work, then out of nowhere he says he's never even tasted dry-aged beef in his life. Said his family always bought pre-packaged stuff from the grocery store and thought aged meat was just a marketing gimmick. I offered him a slice of a 35-day NY strip we had hanging in the cooler and his face changed completely when he chewed it. Made me realize how many people just never get exposed to the real stuff because of how meat is sold nowadays. Has anyone else run into customers or new hires who didn't know basic stuff like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jesse3d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy who cooks at a sports bar told me they had a new kid who asked why they bothered dry aging when you could just buy steaks already cut and cryovacked. He didn't know the texture and flavor come from that aging process, thought it was just some chef flex. The kid's whole world changed after trying a bite of their 45 day ribeye.

ivanlewis3d ago

Man, that reminds me of when I first tried a proper dry aged steak at a little place downtown. I had no idea what the big deal was until I took that first bite and suddenly understood why people pay extra for it. It's like a completely different food, not just a fancier cut.

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