The blog of cooking-ez.com
The so-called "nervous" meats
You've probably heard this before, we're talking about "nervous" meat, or meat with nerves, to describe what is indicated by the blue arrow on the left.
This is a piece of beef, and what we call a nerve is not a nerve, it is in fact collagen (chemists sometimes call it a "collagen sink"), a protein that is found in varying amounts in some of the meats we eat.
But we'll continue to call them "nerves" for the rest of this post, it will be simpler.
This is a piece of beef, and what we call a nerve is not a nerve, it is in fact collagen (chemists sometimes call it a "collagen sink"), a protein that is found in varying amounts in some of the meats we eat.
But we'll continue to call them "nerves" for the rest of this post, it will be simpler.
19K 23 4.5
Last modified on: April 16th 2021
Keywords for this post:MeatNervesCollagenCookingGelatinThe so-called "nervous" meats
Let's say it straight, even if it's not nerves, it's not pleasant to eat, it's both hard and elastic in the mouth, in short if you find it while chewing a piece of meat, steak for example, you'll feel the difference in texture and taste (it doesn't have any taste in fact)
So naturally, if you prepare a meat before cooking, you try to eliminate as much as possible these nerves to see a certain harmony of texture. A lot of cutting to be done, it's a lot of work, I must admit.
Well, it's not as binary as that, it turns out that this collagen under the action of heat, cooking, long, we are talking about at least 2 hours, this collagen is naturally transformed into gelatin, and therefore on the one hand it loses completely its hardness, it melts in fact, but in addition it brings a natural binder to your preparation.
This is one of the secrets of meat dishes that are cooked for a long time, I am thinking in particular of beef bourguignon, blanquette de veau or carbonnade, it is not obvious but it is not at all necessary to choose a first choice meat, on the contrary a cheap and slightly nervous meat will be fine, no need to make a thousand cuts to eliminate the nerves, better it will even participate in the holding of your sauce, thanks to its natural gelatin contribution.
That's why if you ask your butcher for a bourguignon meat, for example, he might offer you less noble, more economical cuts (e.g. skirt steak, chuck) and a bit nervous, no worries, on the contrary.
This is the advantage of these dishes which must cook for at least 2 hours, but which can very well do it twice or three times or even more, under cover, over a low heat, where the meat gently confit and the tastes reveal themselves more and more, for our greatest gustatory pleasure.
In summary: The presence of nerves (in fact collagen) is not a problem for long-cooked meats, it can even be an asset, thanks to the slow transformation of collagen into gelatin.
So naturally, if you prepare a meat before cooking, you try to eliminate as much as possible these nerves to see a certain harmony of texture. A lot of cutting to be done, it's a lot of work, I must admit.
Okay, but where is the trick?
Well, it's not as binary as that, it turns out that this collagen under the action of heat, cooking, long, we are talking about at least 2 hours, this collagen is naturally transformed into gelatin, and therefore on the one hand it loses completely its hardness, it melts in fact, but in addition it brings a natural binder to your preparation.
This is one of the secrets of meat dishes that are cooked for a long time, I am thinking in particular of beef bourguignon, blanquette de veau or carbonnade, it is not obvious but it is not at all necessary to choose a first choice meat, on the contrary a cheap and slightly nervous meat will be fine, no need to make a thousand cuts to eliminate the nerves, better it will even participate in the holding of your sauce, thanks to its natural gelatin contribution.
That's why if you ask your butcher for a bourguignon meat, for example, he might offer you less noble, more economical cuts (e.g. skirt steak, chuck) and a bit nervous, no worries, on the contrary.
This is the advantage of these dishes which must cook for at least 2 hours, but which can very well do it twice or three times or even more, under cover, over a low heat, where the meat gently confit and the tastes reveal themselves more and more, for our greatest gustatory pleasure.
In summary: The presence of nerves (in fact collagen) is not a problem for long-cooked meats, it can even be an asset, thanks to the slow transformation of collagen into gelatin.
Lasts posts
It's spinning too fast!
When you need to grate or slice vegetables, you generally use an electric machine that does all the work: a food processor, a mixer with a "slicer" extension or similar. Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem,...1,0255 November 12th 2023
When I was a kid, I didn't like...
Maybe you've already made this strange observation: when you were a kid, there were things you hated, but as an adult it's almost the opposite? For example, you used to hate spinach or chicory, but now you love it?1,1205 November 5th 2023
How easy is it to chop herbs?
Whenever you have fresh herbs - parsley, chervil, coriander, mint, etc. - to incorporate into a recipe, we tell you to chop them up. In this case, "chopping" means separating the leaves from the stems, keeping only the leaves, and chopping them more or less finely. It's not very complicated,...3,1575 September 12th 2023
The softness of sandwich bread
You're probably familiar with what's known in France as "pain de mie", a very white, molded and rather soft bread, widely used in cooking, particularly for croque-monsieur. Let's find out what it's all about.3,204 September 5th 2023
Cooking cauliflower
Dramatic observation: cauliflower when cooked has a bad reputation ("it doesn't smell good!" and the like), and yet it's an excellent vegetable, very Breton, that deserves to be treated well, to give the best of itself.3,4313.3 August 29th 2023
Other pages you may also like
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...65K4.0 March 6th 2013
Egg yolks and caster sugar
We often come across recipes where we need to mix egg yolks with caster sugar. This would appear to be a very ordinary and simple thing to do but, be warned, these two ingredients can behave oddly together.69K 24.4 February 15th 2018
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .115K 14.2 February 7th 2017
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.49K 24.2 June 21th 2017
The color of the bread crumb
When you go to buy bread, at your baker's, at the time of the choice, if you hesitate of course, you will undoubtedly be very sensitive to the color of the crust, and you will be right. The color of the crust, from golden, to sometimes very dark, deep brown almost black, depending on the maturity...11K4.6 April 30th 2022
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.