Description
THE BEEF
Every Côte de Boeuf we sell comes from native breed cattle hand-selected for us from small independent farms across Norfolk and Suffolk by a family-run East Anglian abattoir with 60 years of relationships with these farmers. For this cut specifically, carcass selection is everything. A Côte de Boeuf lives or dies on its fat coverage and intramuscular marbling — the fat cap that renders into the crust, and the marbling through the eye that bastes the meat from within as it cooks. Our buyer’s graders know exactly what they’re looking for, and carcasses that don’t meet that standard don’t make the cut.
Some of these cattle graze on East Anglian marshland pastures — a habitat that rewards slow, natural grazing and produces beef with a clean, distinctive character that intensive rearing simply cannot replicate. Native breeds, raised properly, on land that has fed cattle for centuries.
THE AGEING
A Côte de Boeuf deserves proper ageing. Ours hangs for a minimum of 21 days — and often longer, up to 28 — in our on-site dry ageing facility. During that time moisture slowly leaves the meat, concentrating the flavour, while natural enzymes break down the muscle fibres. What you get at the end of it is a steak with a nuttier, more complex, more deeply beefy flavour than anything aged for less time, and a tenderness you’ll notice the moment you cut into it.
COOKING YOUR CÔTE DE BOEUF
This is not a steak to rush. Take it out of the fridge at least two hours before cooking — it’s a thick cut and needs time to come fully to room temperature. Cold meat in a hot pan means an uneven cook, and this cut deserves better than that.
You have two options, and both work well.
On the hob and into the oven — the reliable method:
Get a heavy pan — cast iron if you have it — properly hot. Oil the steak, not the pan. Season generously with flaked salt only just before it goes in. Sear hard for 3–4 minutes each side to build a proper crust, then transfer to an oven preheated to 180°C / 160°C fan. Roast for 10–15 minutes depending on thickness, checking the internal temperature with a probe: 52°C for rare, 57°C for medium rare. In the last 2 minutes of the oven, add a generous knob of butter, a crushed garlic clove, and a sprig of thyme to the pan and baste the steak continuously.
On the barbecue — the best method:
Cook over indirect heat for 15–20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 50°C. Then move directly over the coals for 2–3 minutes per side to build the crust and get the char on the fat cap. A Côte de Boeuf over charcoal, with the fat rendering into the coals and smoking back up through the meat, is one of the great things you can cook outdoors.
Resting — non-negotiable:
Rest for a minimum of 10 minutes, loosely covered, before carving. For a cut this size, 15 minutes is better. The juices redistribute, the temperature evens out, and you’ll have a steak that’s pink from edge to edge rather than grey on the outside and raw in the middle.
Carving:
Slice the meat away from the bone first, then carve across the grain into thick slices. Don’t throw the bone away — there’s meat on it worth picking at, and anyone who’s been handed a rib bone to gnaw at knows it’s the best bit.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH IT
Keep it simple. The Côte de Boeuf is the centrepiece — everything else is supporting cast.
Proper chips or dauphinoise potatoes. A watercress salad dressed with nothing but good olive oil and lemon. A béarnaise sauce if you’re going all in, or a simple herb butter melted over the top. For wine, a Côte de Boeuf demands a serious red — a Saint-Émilion, a Pomerol, or a structured Malbec. If you’re cooking it on the barbecue, an Argentine Malbec is the obvious and correct answer.
STORAGE & DELIVERY
Delivered fresh in chilled packaging. Keep refrigerated and cook within use by on product. Suitable for freezing — freeze on day of delivery and defrost slowly in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking. Never defrost at room temperature.
