"dry aging" news and stories

Yesterday's All Things Considered featured a discussion with John T. Edge, food writer and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Today, Edge is having a "steak-off," a quest for, as he calls it a "transcendent, platonic hunk of beef." The talk turns to dry versus wet aging and Edge ultimately refers to Adam Perry Lang, formerly of Le Cirque and Daniel in New York City. Lang gives a good overview of dry aging, likening the process to a grape becoming a raisin. There's also the obligatory justification of the prices of dry aged meat. One detail I hadn't heard before was the benefit of dry aging multiple cuts in the same room. Lang says the aromas that develop in the room carry over from one cut to the next, almost like developing a sourdough starter.

[Thanks to John C.]