"does healthy mean less tasty" Topic

For a while Ive been dissatisfied with my signature dish: beef bourguignon.
Ive been cooking it for years basically following the same recipe.
The only dfference was a switch to Healthy Cut beef. This is meat with all the fat trimmed off.
As the local butcher was out of this the other day I ordered the old beef with some fat left on.
Viola! The old beef bourguignon was back.
So is the decision a longer life or a tasty diet?

Beef fat adds flavor, and utterly lean beef will tend towards dryness and blandness.

We tend to buy cuts that still have a good deal of untrimmed fat, and then the missus trims it judiciously, depending on the particular application. She's a good judge, good enough that even though I got some good training from a meatcutter back in college, I almost always leave the work to her.

It's a balance between the downside of consuming the fat and losing flavor altogether.

Allen

My last few years with the USDA I was working on a 'lean meat' project. It was a total boondoggle to appease Congress and funnel money to a favored research site. The ranchers know how to produce lean meat, but nobody wants it. Veal is lean, but folks bread it and fry it. Charolais steers have lean meat, but they are a large breed and the meat processors don't want to deal with them because they don't fit the standard boxes. Range fed cattle are lean, but, as noted, not as flavorful and folks don't care for the flavor they do have. We are used to corn fed, moderate to high fat meat. You should see some of the pictures of roasts in the 1950's advertisements, as much fat as meat it would seem.

I enjoy my full fat beef in moderation with large servings of fresh vegetables and whole grains and don't worry about it. My doctor has said that whatever I'm eating, "keep it up". I think for most people the issue is not what they eat, but how much is being consumed and how much (or little) exercise they get.

There is plenty of flavor in healthy food… it's just not the flavor that we humans are hereditarily inclined to crave. We want fat, salt, sweet.
We want that 'savory' thing going on in our mouths.

I've been a vegetarian for 20+ years and my mouth still jumps at the smell of barbecue.

It depends on the preparation and the recipe. A major portion of my protein intake over the last decade has been elk or venison. Both are lean meats. Steaks (rare) and roasts are tasty. Swiss steak is excellent (recipe after all was created to make 'Old Bossy' palatable after she was past her prime at the dairy). For ground meat we have about 15% pork fat added. Other recipes may see another 'fat' added. On the other hand I also still consume a fair bit of pork and poultry.

If you are consuming the leaner cuts, just look for the recipes that are not affected by the lower fat content. Don't cook it as much if possible to avoid drying it out.

P.S. Had a prime ribeye a while back that tasted too fatty.

does healthy mean less tasty

Not necessarily. Of course, "healthy" doesn't necessarily mean what people think it means, either. "Healthy" also varies from person to person. In general, Jana Wang probably has the right of it.

Me, I don't give a damn for healthy.
-Kle.

I agree with Jana and Allen. Beef fat is good in moderation. We actually buy the "regular" versions of meat without the trimming of fat. It's cheaper and tastes better. We also only eat meat once or twice a month and generally with small portions. Although, I engage in a tasty 1/2 pound hamburger every 3-4 months. Some things I just can't cut back on.

Enjoy it in moderation.
Fat is where the flavor is!

I've been to a factory that stamps out McD burgers and the cuts of beef look pretty good. They have to add fat to the formula so that the patties cook easier.