Once again I saw another show on beef heart. " Bizarre Foods" last night.
They took raw thin strips and grilled them rare. The words to describe the heart were "tender".
I thought it might be the age of the animal determining the tenderness of the heart. But in at least one occasion watching, the animal was quite old and that was the reason for butchering it.
So, what is it. Heart is tough and needs to be braised? Or is it tender enough to grill rare?
Seems we are conflicted or I am missing something.
Even tough cuts, if cooked rare and sliced very thin are tender enough. Also, they have to be cooked against the grain. But if you overcook any meat, it gets tough. Heart and other well exercised muscles are very prone to this. Or if they are cut thick, they can still be rather chewey.
Think of liver, when prepared well, it can be so tender that it's downright creamy. Then again, I've had liver that would substitute for shoe soles. The same is true of beef brisket. Cooked rare, or even medium rare, and slice thin against the grain, it can be a wonderful meat, especially grilled. But I have had corned beef (made from brisket) that was so tough, it was nearly inedible. You couldn't even cut it with a knife. But that was on a naval ship. We often said that the navy taught their cooks to take perfectly good food and make it inedible.
So, I hope that helps clear things up a bit. Like clams, or squid, for heart, cooking is - 2 minutes or two hours. That is barely cook it, or braise it long enough to break it down.
Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North