Marbling is the fat found throughout a cut of meat, which helps to maintain tenderness and flavor. It is found in the best cuts of steak and can be enhanced with herbs and spices. Lower quality cuts may have artificial marbling added.
Marbling can best be described as the network of fats running through selected sections of meat. Not to be confused with the large deposits of fat often found around the perimeter of a cut of meat, marbling is fat found throughout the cut. Usually appearing as a series of small white spots in the cut of the meat, marbling has two main functions in ensuring that the meat is both tasty and tender.
Sometimes referred to as granulation, the fat in sections of meat helps provide the foundation for keeping the finished product tender. As the marbled meat is cooked, the fat deposits dissolve and spread throughout the meat. The end result is that the prepared meat is tender and moist, often very easy to cut, and has a texture that is considered very palatable.
In addition to helping maintain a desirable texture to the meat, marbling also works to ensure that the taste of the prepared meat satisfies the person dining on the finished product. As the meat cooks, the marbling dissolves into the texture of the meat, leaving it flavored with just the right amount of salty taste to make it appealing. Marbling is found in all the best cuts of steak and is one of the key factors in defining both the taste and texture of a good cut of beef.
Meats that contain marbling are often prepared in a variety of ways. Some prefer to cook or grill the meat, allowing the natural basting qualities of the marbling to work their magic. In other cases, frying may be the preferred preparation method. The flavor that is released from the marbling can be enhanced with a light dusting of various herbs and spices, or completed with a blackening technique.
Since marbling is often lacking in lower quality cuts of meat, one known process is that lard is often used to mimic the benefits of natural lard. Essentially, fat is manually injected into the lesser cut of meat, helping to give the lesser product at least some enhanced flavor. While this is often a viable situation for limited food budgets, nearly everyone agrees that natural marbling is far superior in quality to any artificial process.
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