I have not been bitten by a Lone Star tick. I have not been infiltrated by Alpha-Gal antibodies that might otherwise punish me for enjoying the pleasures of the flesh.
No, I have been spared. Spared to consume more red meat in greater quantities and varieties over the past couple of months than ever before.
For our July feature on Dallas’ best meat markets, Eve Hill-Agnus and I visited 11 shops from McKinney to Oak Cliff. And then, because I like a self-imposed challenge, I spent two days driving around to 10 of the shops and hosted a dream meat cookout for some of my coworkers in my backyard.
All of this has led to an unexpected side effect: people want to talk to me about meat. A lot.
At parties. On the tennis court. Beside the pool. They want to know about sausages, and elk steaks, and why I’ll buy a chuck steak over a Wagyu steak for the grill, and whether you can really taste the difference between a 45-day and 25-day aged rib-eye, and what the heck I put on those pork chops to make them taste so good.
We are sitting on a treasure trove of protein, people. So please, ask away. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll just have to do a little more research.
