The only steak I would eat by choice is rare - seared outside and cool and bright red inside.
Also the meat should preferabely be aged - stored hanging at just a bit cooler than a room temperature for tree weeks to allow natural enzimes to break the cell membranes and allow exess water to evaporate. Makes it melt in your mouth. Just like in the best steak houses, New York Peter Luger being the top.
Aged meat is readily available in New york but the kind of oven they use in good steakhouses is not something we can have, so the results will still vary.
No argument is has to be a good meat to be enjoyed rare - the tasteless stuff requires burning, salting and seasoning beyong recongition to be palatable.
Have you guys ever tried Steak Tartare? It's basically a fine meat ground kind like a hamburger and mixed with a bit of seasoning - mustard, worchesterchire, onion, capers, sometimes egg-yolk. It's absolutely great - the fine meat really has a very good taste.
Oh, heck, I am drooling so hard...
Oh, by since we are talking about great-tasting food that does not require burning - how about sashimi and oysters?
Of course many people who've burned their taste and smell receptors with hot seasonings can only tell "hot" and "salty", so they may as well not bother with those dishes as they will never be able to tell the difference anyway worthy the extra cost.
For those whose taste and smell is not yet maimed, it takes a bit of practice to start appreciating the nuances - and discover them - in fine foods. Just like shooting - you start with general idea and no appreciation and then find out the groups could be narrowed incredibly with practice.
miko
