“Test myself as a griller and also as a producer”. If there’s anyone who knows challenges, it’s Christian Petersen, the renowned chef who didn’t just stay in the kitchen, but took on new challenges. He added production to his profession “to learn and recognize all the effort” that goes into the production chains. He produces beef, lamb and eggs. Now another challenge has been proposed: produce and cook the best steak in the world.
“It’s a good challenge that we set ourselves as a company, as a family and I as a chef-producer, to see if we can achieve what some Argentines achieve in the meat chain, which is to produce quality meat,” he summed up.
The chef stated that to “cook well” you need good products, and to have good products you need to know who produces them, what their production system is like and what their success is. “In recent years I was trying to learn a little about meat, about barbecue techniques, to look for some more explanations. And there I understood that the great success of a cut of meat begins in the production“, he has declared.
Therefore, this experience also aims to unite all connections: the chefs, the gastronomy and the producers. “I have a bit of everything, of course I’m more of a chef or entrepreneur than a producer and I’d like that make the entire supply chain transparent and being able to explain to my colleagues or the general public all the enormous effort that goes into a steak and start valuing it”,
The secrets to producing the best steak in the world
The project is based on genetics, nutrition and animal welfare.
Petersen’s bet began last October with the birth of the calves and will end in March 2025 with the slaughter and, subsequently, the tasting.
As for nutrition, after birth, in October-November 2023, it was 100% milk. Then, during weaning, from December 2023 to March 2024, it is based on Creep eating (feeding at the mother’s feet): milk plus food 18% protein with 2.9 Mcal (mega calories) EM (metabolisable energy) plus grass .
Starting from April, breeding will take place on grass with energy supplementation equal to 0.7-1% LW (live weight) depending on the forage supply. In the last three months of the year (October, November, December) grazing continues with the addition of a supplement equal to 0.5 PV.
And it ends up in the pen in the first three months of 2025 with a ration of 12.5% CP and 3 Mcal ME/kg DM (dry matter). Therefore, with this food plan, the animal will exceed 500 kilos.
In reference to animal welfare, he noted that they are “very careful.” “In fact, the rodeo takes place on 20 hectares of land with a lot of shade, a lot of water and a lot of tranquility. I had a challenge there when the cows arrived because I thought they would be a little tamer and they were a little grumpy , so “We are doing an extraordinary job with my wellness team so that they are calm, in fact I would tell you that they even let themselves be petted,” he noted.
According to him, the breed that will make the big bet is the Angus, with the genetics of the Casamu hut.
“Producing some meat is not as easy as it seems. I encountered many challenges. Last year’s alfalfa pastures died due to drought, calving was not as well so I had two months for all the fields to calve and I recently had an outbreak of the disease that affects horses (equine encephalomyelitis) , which fortunately hit a calf. , but luckily he didn’t go any further,” he described the obstacles facing him.
Petersen’s idea, assisted by Sebastián Riffel, is to organize a lunch in March 2025 for representatives of the meat supply chainand so they will be able to taste the product and tell them about the entire production process. She plans to make a whole heifer skin and steak eyes from the steers with different weights and marbling.
Other productions
At the moment, has several “open fronts” in different productions. It breeds on an island, near Vuelta de Obligado (San Pedro district). There are 100 mothers there. And he also has 250 steers in the winter on a pastoral basis. “In the high areas of the countryside we work with Angus where we look for certain values such as docility, ease of fattening and good management. And on the island we work with Brangus, which is a strong breed that adapts to extreme environments,” he said.
Furthermore, it has a small flock of Hampshire Down sheep to produce their own lambs. In any case, he had to reduce the number of animals because he recognized that “they are difficult to manage”.
The latest undertaking concerns the cage-free egg production started before the pandemic. “I was lucky enough in 2010 to run an Endurance race in Kentucky, USA and I thought it was fantastic when I was galloping I always saw the pastoral egg production in the field and I always wanted to do that. When I met Santiago Debernardi (renowned bovine geneticist) with his production, he kindly recommended me,” he said.
The goal is in the future supply yourself with eggs of your own production for your company that sells Milanese eggs. “We use 1,000 to 2,000 eggs a day, I buy pastoral eggs on one side and commercial eggs on the other. I am very proud to go egg hunting in the countryside every week. Today we produce about 5,000 eggs a week, which is not a lot,” she said.
Source: Clarin
