Matangi’s owner Robert Haselsteiner (right), farm operations manager Jamie Gaddum and business manager Nicky Gaddum. Photo / Paul Taylor
Home cook, big eater and deputy editor Mark Story has an appetite for the region’s rising food products. This week he chats with Matangi Butchery’s business manager Nicky Gaddum - then throws a ribeye tomahawk on a fire.
Many (namely South Islanders) argue hereford is a superior beef beast. Why angus?
We chose Black Angus primarily because it suits our environment. The breed performs well on the rugged east coast contour – rolling hills and steep sidelings. Genetics was the second driver. We knew there were strong bloodlines within angus that could deliver the marbling and eating quality we were aiming for. From there, it’s about aligning on-farm practices.
Rank these three factors in order of flavour’s importance: genetics, farming, dry-ageing.
To produce a great steak, flavour sits alongside tenderness and juiciness. Genetics, farming, and ageing all matter – but they need to be layered in that order. Start with the right genetics, then apply farming practices that keep animals calm, healthy and consistently growing. Ageing enhances what’s already there. All our beef is aged for up to 21 days, with additional dry-ageing done to order.
You’re aiming for meat-marbling in a world that’s been taught to fear fat courtesy of our 50-year old food pyramid. Has/is this a barrier?
It has been – particularly with older generations – but that’s changing. There’s a growing understanding that not all fat is equal. Intramuscular fat, or marbling, is quite different from external fat. It melts during cooking, delivering tenderness, juiciness and flavour, and tends to contain a higher proportion of monounsaturated fats like oleic acid.
We see this as part of a broader shift, where consumers are rediscovering that fat, in the right form and context, is essential to a great eating experience.
Your provenance is paramount. Can beef be compared to Hawke’s Bay wine, where there’s an identifiable connection between the product’s environment, and what we taste? Or will there always be less nuance with beef?
It can be compared, just in a different way. With wine, people talk about terroir. With beef, it’s more about how pasture, soil, climate and farming approach influence flavour, especially through fat.
We farm two properties in the Tukituki region. At Matangi station, angus cows do well on native pastures across steeper hill country. Further up the valley on our second block, our flatter, more fertile land grows high-energy grasses that suit younger cattle.
Those differences in landscape and feed shape what the animals eat, and that flows through to the beef, particularly in marbling and fat quality.
That said, beef expresses its origins more quietly than wine. The nuance is there, but you notice it more in texture and richness than in bold, obvious flavour notes. It’s a more subtle expression of place.
Matangi’s approach to stock husbandry is personal. Is it risky getting too close to animals destined for plates?
There’s always a balance to strike. We believe good stockmanship requires a level of connection – because animals that are well cared for, calm and understood ultimately produce better outcomes, both ethically and in terms of meat quality.
At the same time, we’re clear about the purpose of the system. These are livestock, and our responsibility is to give them the best possible life within that context.
We see it as accountability. If you’re connected to your animals, you’re more invested in doing right by them every day – right through to the end.
Premium beef has a premium price. Do you think your push for flavour over weight will ever be the New Zealand norm, rather than the exception?
Yes– but selectively. Not every system will move away from weight, but there’s a clear shift toward valuing eating quality over pure yield. As consumers become more discerning, flavour will carry more weight in how beef is produced and priced, but farmers need to be financially incentivised to prioritise eating quality.
We see the future as a balance: efficient production alongside a growing portion of farmers who are focused on eating quality.
Review:
Matangi aged ribeye tomahawk $116.84, 1.072kg.
Premium beef deserves premium heat – charcoal all the way on this.
Reverse searing is modish in barbecuing, yet the technique’s a little safe for me. I went old-school – room-temp prep, big seasoning and a steady eye on the prize.
Direct heat for eight minutes a side, lid down so the smoke and beef wed. (That sound of fat hitting coals is flavour you can hear).
Thirty minutes rest.
The result?
The hearty cut fed and floored a table of four. In a lifetime of eating steak I’ve never had better. Buttery, tender, soft and savoury.
It made for mindful eating; steak as delicacy. A genuine privilege.
Negatives?
One biggie. Steak shopping at the supermarket now seems rather pointless.
* Do you know of a rising Hawke’s Bay food or beverage product worth a profile? Contact mark.story@hbtoday.co.nz