Meat, Your True Love

According to Andrew Zimmern

I am, like most men, infatuated with meat. On some primal level, we want to eat the meat we hunted, in front of a fire we built. But not many men do that anymore. Over the past few generations, we’ve lost a connection to the meat we eat. We’ve created a food system that delivers to our stores single portions of center-cut animal proteins, wrapped in plastic.

Americans eat more chicken than any other meat, but those birds—fried, baked, grilled—are often flavorless and boring. Our pork tastes nothing like the stuff our grandparents ate. Our beef is bland and overcooked. Offal (stuff like liver, tongue, and kidneys) disgusts us. The meat you likely enjoy doesn’t convey the best essence of the animal.

We’re not going to return to our caveman ways anytime soon, but eating different cuts of meat (from animals raised well instead of factory farmed) gives your body the variety of nutrients it needs, your palate the tastes it craves, and the planet the sustainability it requires. For my list of the 26 unsung proteins you must try, go to MensHealth.com/meat/oddbites. Prepare to feast.