A steak of Sussex beef

In India, cows are sacred. In parts of Kenya, they are a status symbol. In the UK, they are the subject of our most grisly food scandals: BSE, foot and mouth, and the current mystery mince fiasco. I’m not exactly sure what this says about us, but it’s bad. We have taken too little care of our cows.

Here in Sussex we have a cattle breed to be proud of – the Sussex – and this week I thought I’d try some of its meat. It is a beef breed, adapted to the demands of grazing the Weald. This means it does particularly well on poor pasture, staying in good condition even when it’s cold and muddy underfoot. It’s a very British sort of cow.

Sussex beef rump steak

I bought this steak from the Offham Farm Shop. It came from an animal reared on the farm, grazing on Hamsey and Offham brooks just outside Lewes. I also bought a similarly-priced supermarket steak for the purposes of comparison. I cooked both steaks in the same way (fried with oil). The supermarket one was more tender, however the Offham Farm Shop one was juicier and tastier especially next to the fat.

How Sussex cattle can turn grimy grass into sublime steaks is beyond me. It’s a natural miracle. They certainly deserve our respect, if not our veneration.   

Sussex credentials: The best. A Sussex breed, born and raised in Sussex.

Price: I paid £19 per kilo.