The bavette, that long, slender steak from the lower end of the belly, sounds less than promising. No rim of creamy-yellow fat to frame its flesh; no thick bone at its side to enrich it as it cooks; a piece of meat that is cut thinner than I usually prefer. And yet, briefly marinated with thyme, garlic and rosemary and cooked quickly on a hot griddle or over coals outdoors and left to rest before slicing, it has become my go-to steak this summer.
I bought my first piece a few years ago, more out of curiosity than anything else. Despite its lack of fat and bone, it tempted: the colour was the deepest maroon flecked with tiny nuggets of sweet fat and its deep, open grain intrigued. The price was a bargain compared to what I normally paid for steak. Cooked on a searingly hot cast iron griddle, the one I still use, the meat was ready in no time, then rested and sliced into thick pieces. I’ve never looked back.
For years I considered this cut best for slicing thinly and tossing in a smoking wok with ginger and spring onions, or for ending its days in the depths of a ragù sauce. Nothing wrong with that after all, but it seemed daft to do without a steak because of the cost when there is a good-value cut such as this to be had.
I cooked bavette this week, basted with a herb-freckled marinade and served with roasted vegetables Рa rough mixture of baked aubergine and scarlet peppers, a coarse pur̩e of the latter running through the roughly chopped flesh of the aubergine. On the plate, the caramelised juices of both the steak and the vegetables merged deliciously into one. Add to that the anchovy-spiked dressing that I used to toss some green beans and we had a cheap dinner little short of a feast.
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