A man has sparked a debate after he refused to re-cook an expensive steak for his guest who wanted it well done.
Writing on Reddit, the man explained that he hosted a ‘Friendsgiving’ dinner and ended up arguing with his friend’s new girlfriend because she wanted him to recook the meat so it was “brown all the way through”.
The fight resulted in the people cutting ties with a steak ending up on the floor...
He said: “So, we did a bit of an extravagant Friendsgiving this year.
“It was a tight-knit event with only 10 of us there, mostly couples including my friend who only started dating a girl within the last couple months. We had an array of dishes but I was responsible for cooking the meat.
“Steak is about the closest thing I have to a religion and I take it very seriously. The average steak for me takes about 4-5 hours to prepare and cook from the sous vide to the cast iron, to plate though sometimes I take as much as 3-4 months butter ageing or dry ageing my meats to be certain that they are perfect. These were genuine A5 so I only sous vide them after cutting them into two-inch steaks.
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He continued that he had also made other food including “jerk chicken, mandarin duck breast, and a nice cut off cherry jalapeno salmon” and that the steak was cooked well to medium-rare but he said he would “bring them up to medium on request.” He also later added that he had sent the menus out “weeks in advance” and said he would get cheaper steak if anyone wanted it cooked “to a higher temperature”.
But his friend’s girlfriend wasn’t happy, apparently. He continued:
“Well, here comes the new girl to the group. She sees the first person cut into their steak and sees pink and she is just mortified.”
He said she said the meat needed to be “brown all the way through or else you’ll get sick” but that he insisted they were “perfect”.
“She immediately demanded that I cook hers till it was brown all the way through and I firmly said, ‘Not a chance.’”
At that point, the fight escalated: “She proceeded to get angry and yell that it was her steak and she should have it how she liked. I told her that there were plenty of other meats to choose from as well as a plethora of side-dishes that she could have but her steak was not being made well-done in my house.”
According to the man, the woman swore at him then tried to put the steak in the microwave, at which point he intercepted her and half of it fell on the floor and his dogs at it.
“I said: ‘Well, at least it went to someone who wouldn’t s**t on a good steak.’ From there, there was definitely tension from that end of the table. They ate a little bit then hurriedly left.
Since then, it seems that the fight has been unresolved. “My long-time friend and his new girlfriend have blocked me on social media and my phone number. They’ve even gone so far as to block the rest of the people at the table and cut off all ties.
“Yesterday I received a PayPal invoice from my old friend for $25 that just said, ‘pay for dry cleaning of her dress.’ I don’t think anything actually spilled on her, I think it’s just more drama but as of now I’m ignoring it and, unfortunately, probably washing my hands clean of an old friend.”
Reacting to the story, some people thought he was completely in the wrong.
“When you choose to cook for someone, you don’t get to dictate how they eat it. You’re gifting them a dish and they can do how they will with it in the manner they enjoy it. The fact you’d rather have a dog eat the meat than the guest is pretty telling how inconsiderate and controlling of a host you are,” one said.
But others took his side. One said: “Google Wagyu and you’ll see that it is raised to be rippled with fat. If you overcook it all that fat will drain out of it and you’ll be left with a gnarled and much shrunken piece of meat. Serving it that way is ruining it and what it exists for. The cook is absolutely correct to suggest that someone who wants it that way should not have wagyu at all, any more than you should serve well-done sushi or pasta cooked to the mushiness of Spaghetti-Os. It’s not pretentiousness, it’s competence.”
Sounds like the whole ordeal was one big ‘misteak’.
