A good steak dinner is one of those most intense and primal pleasures of life. As you tuck into a hearty plate of expertly cooked meat and take your first bite into the succulent meat, feel it giving way and parting easily as you bite into its tenderness, and the was of flavours and juices that coat your palate like a warm blanket on a cold eve.
Having a steak dinner is an event such that it is often had in celebration of another event. An anniversary perhaps or even a first date to show your partner that you really do care about the finer things in life and a birthday would certainly be a grand occasion for a chunk of meat.
Yes a birthday would be quite the celebration to adorn with a healthy steak dinner but there is an extra special birthday for an extra special individual.
Enter Mr Edwin ‘John’ Carvell, a retired WW2 veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday with not only a special message from HRH but also a solid serving of his favourite meal. Steak and Chips.
Born on April 20, 1921 in Egham and was the fourth of six siblings and raised in Bedford until the age of 18 when he was called to serve in the Territorial Army (TA) at the age of 18.
He served for seven years through the Second World War, before moving with his family to High Wycombe in 1954 and currently resides in Marlow to enjoy his retirement.
What is it about a steak dinner that just makes everything seem okay with the world?
Could it be the primal pleasure of tearing into a chunk of meat and having the juices flow down or could it even be the culmination of time spent slaving over the steak in a pan or in the oven.
Perhaps it’s just that we as a people love our steak, we love the people that often surround us as we eat a steak, and we love the way it feels to indulge. It could be any number of these things or a combination of all.
Either way, steak and chips is certainly a fine way to celebrate a milestone birthday of a fine man.
If you’re planning your own steak dinner then make sure to check out our other articles on how to cook steak properly in either a pan or the oven. How to make a date night steak that little extra special or even how to choose, order, and eat a fine piece of meat in a good steakhouse (when we’re allowed to be in one).
Don’t forget that while a cheap cut of meat doesn’t automatically mean a poor dinner, you really can’t go too far wrong if you start with a quality piece of steak so head over to www.thesteakshop.co.uk to grab butcher quality meat, hand selected from all over the world, and delivered directly to your door.