(The Center Square) – The Texas Senate will soon file a concurrent resolution to officially name the strip steak as the “Texas Strip,” rivaling the Kansas City and New York Strip steak, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said.
After meeting with members of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Patrick said he asked what their favorite cut of meat was. They replied it was the New York Strip, referring to a cut of meat located along the short loin, which butchers for centuries have referred to as the “strip loin.”
Patrick next asked “why we didn’t call it a ‘Texas Strip’ because New York has mostly dairy cows. Just because a New York restaurant named Texas beef a New York Strip in the 19th century doesn’t mean we need to keep doing that,” he said, referring to Delmonico’s, a restaurant founded in 1827 by Swiss immigrant brothers who listed the cut on its menu as the New York strip steak.
But Delmonico’s wasn’t the first to name the cut, according to multiple sources. In the early 1800s in New York City, the strip loin was considered as a less desirable cut and sold at boarding houses, used in stews by lower-income residents, Flavor Insider notes.
It was also originally known as the Kansas City Strip Steak, Ruth Chris Steak House explains. Some Delmonico patrons asked for the name to be changed to the New York strip to cater to a more upscale clientele.
Debate continues over whether a real strip is boneless or has bone and how much fat is on it – a marked difference between New York and Kansas City cuts, steak connoisseurs argue.
Now, a third choice, at least when it comes to names, is coming: the Texas Strip Steak.
“The Texas Senate will file a concurrent resolution to officially change the name of the New York Strip to the ‘Texas Strip’ in the Lone Star State,” Patrick said.
The resolution will ask Texas-based restaurants to change the name of the steak the next time they reprint their menus, Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, said. It will also request Texas-based grocery stores to label the cut as the “Texas Strip.”
“We want this to catch on across the country and around the globe,” Patrick said. “In a world filled with serious issues that we address every day at the Texas Capitol, this simple resolution will help better market Texas beef. That’s good for the Texas cattle industry. The Cattle Associations sure liked the idea. … We promote the Texas brand on everything made or grown in Texas because it benefits our economy and jobs.”
Texas cattle, including beef and dairy, are Texas’ top agricultural commodity, representing $15.5 billion in market value in 2022, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Texas remains the undisputable leader with the most beef cattle in the U.S.
As of Jan. 1, 2024, there were slightly more than 4 million beef cattle that had calved in Texas, representing nearly 15% of the beef market, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The data is from 2023, the latest available data published.
Oklahoma has the second greatest number of nearly 1.92 million beef cattle, followed by Missouri’s 1.84 million, Nebraska’s 1.6 million, South Dakota’s 1.5 million, Montana’s 1.25 million and Kansas’ 1.26 million.
Only seven states have more than one million head of cattle; three have more than 800,000.
The top ten states produce nearly 60% of all beef cattle in the U.S., according to the data.
Nationwide, there were more than 28.2 million beef cows in the U.S., roughly more than three times the number of dairy cows, bringing the total to nearly 88 million in 2023, according to the data.
The numbers are significantly down from 50 years ago when there were more than 130 million head of cattle in the U.S. Drought, wildfire, extreme weather events, reduced feed supply, increased costs and other factors have contributed to a loss of beef cattle, according to several in the industry.
Nine states have more cattle than people, the National Beef Wire points out. South Dakota has the highest ratio of cattle to people, followed by Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma and Iowa, it notes.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
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