Art of Good Taste
in association with Tio Pepe
Mark Hix
Mark Hix is a celebrated food writer and renowned restaurateur. Previously Chef Director of Caprice Holdings, he left in 2007 to open Hix Oyster & Chop House in Smithfield and Lyme Regis, Dorset. In 2008 Mark won GQ's Chef of the Year Award, the Academy Award for Outstanding Contribution to London Restaurants and the Restaurateur of the Year at 2009 Tatler Awards.
Visit restaurantsetcltd.co.uk for more information.
Meat Cuts
One person's idea of their favourite meat cut is not necessarily the next's. I prefer chunky cuts like a rose veal T-Bone or lamb chump chops. I always laugh when people walk into a restaurant and ask for fillet. More often than not it's been trimmed so much that there is no flavour left and hardly any meat come to that. We serve our fillets on the bone and don't trim any of the outside bark off so you end up with a good looking, tasty bit of meat.
Another favourite cut of mine is the Hanger steak, or onglet as it's known in France. It hangs just below the kidneys and although the texture is rather fibrous like a piece of skirt, it has a great flavour and texture once thinly sliced. Sadly most butchers in UK don't know what it is and there are only two hangers per animal so you will be lucky to find it.
For me the best cuts are not always the obvious ones, sirloin can be dull but a wing rib or rib steak cut on the bone has the right amount of fat to give it a great flavour when cooked on a really hot grill.
