Kosher Blog

Kosher is the Hind

After years of hoping that someone would finally start performing nikkur aharayim (removal of forbidden fats and nerves from the rear of a kosher animal) in the US, it has finally happened.

Quick background: Upon slaughtering a kosher animal, the blood as well as many forbidden fats, veins, and nerves need to be removed from the animal before it may be eaten. Most of the forbidden portions lie in the rear half of a cow, and some of the forbidden items (such as the gid hanasheh — the sciatica nerve and its branches) are extremely difficult to remove. So, since about the 1970′s, kosher meat purveyors have stopped selling cuts rear of the 12th rib as kosher (with a few exceptions, such as skirt and hangar steaks, which are towards the front of the rear section, and oxtail, which is at the extreme back, obviously). Unfortunately, some of the best cuts on the cow come from the rear — sirloin, top of the round, and tenderloin (whence we get the king of steaks — filet mignon).

Fortunately, an Israeli-trained Sephardic rabbi/shohet named Avidan Elkin recently started performing nikkur aharayim in Hackensack, NJ. Rabbi Elkin studied in Yeshiva in Israel, where nikkur aharayim is still done (albeit not very often), so he was able to acquire the necessary training there. In addition to slaughtering meat, Rabbi Elkin also serves as the Rabbi of the West Side Sephardic Synagogue in Manhattan. I spoke to Rabbi Elkin several times, and he was always very friendly and helpful. Be warned however, that since it is a small operation and some of the more desirable cuts are small, they may not always have what you want in stock.

Rabbi Elkin slaughters and performs nikkur on the meat under the auspices of Bisra Glatt Kosher Meats. Not only do they sell the hindquarters of cows, they also sell lamb and goat, as well as traditional front cuts of beef. Subject to availability, they also sell all kinds of interesting organ meats, such as brain, testicles, and udder. Hopefully that will be a future post.

For Rosh haShannah this year, I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain a whole tenderloin from Bisra.

I cut it into a few roasts, and I saved the thin ends for carpaccio. I also reserved one filet mignon steak.

The roasts, I cooked using Alton Brown’s recipe for center-cut tenderloin roast, coated in salt, cracked pepper, and cumin. In order to fully appreciate the technique, you should really watch the episode of Good Eats in which Alton prepares the recipe. Here are pictures of my attempt, which was delicious.

I would just note that the roast required a good 45 minutes in the oven (rather than the 15-20 minutes that Alton recommends), and it was still too rare for my taste (as well as most of my guests). I subsequently made another one that I cooked for 55 minutes, and it came out perfectly.

I also made Alton’s carpaccio recipe, from that same episode. Not wanting to risk killing my guests, I quickly seared the outside of the meat in my Lodge cast-iron grill pan before cooling it and slicing it, as Alton recommended (upon a severe beating from his lawyers). This is effective because bacteria (such as e. coli) generally are only present on the surface of meat — not inside. It wasn’t bad, and several of my guests liked it a lot, although, understandably, several guests were afraid to try it. I am glad that I have now had the opportunity to taste carpaccio, and while I would maybe eat it again, I probably wouldn’t waste $30/lb. to make it again, since I like cooked meat so much more. Below it is pictured, wrapped in plastic. You may be able to see that the outer 2-3 millimeters are cooked, while the center is raw.

Finally, I made a filet mignon steak for myself after the holiday. Unfortunately, it is difficult to grill at my apartment, and I needed to make the steak before it went bad, so I cooked it in a pre-heated cast-iron grill pan under my broiler. Also unfortunately, I cut the steak too thin, since I was trying to conserve meat for the roasts. I ended up overcooking the steak, and it wasn’t anything special. Hopefully I’ll get to try again soon.