Steak tastes better if you grate 1 simple ingredient over it after coo

Steak is a popular choice of meat for anyone who enjoys beef. To many, a good steak does not need much: salt, heat, and decent timing are usually enough.

However, it is well known that seasoning it with common kitchen ingredients like salt and pepper can enhance its flavour. Once you know how to season and cook steak well, it’s one of the easiest dishes to make that feels genuinely impressive.

While most people will stop at salt and pepper, foodies say there are certain other ingredients that shouldn’t be completely ruled out. According to Niall McCusker at specialist butcher Campbells Meat, there is one unexpected finishing touch that will give you the meatiest flavoured steak.

He says grating a small amount of a common ingredient you usually see at Italian restaurants can bring out the steak’s flavour even more. He says sprinkling a bit on top after cooking is the best time.

Niall recommends adding a light sprinkling of grated Parmesan during the resting period. After cooking, let the steak rest for about five to 10 minutes, which is about half of the total cooking time.

This resting period helps the muscle fibres relax and soak up the juices, while the carry-over cooking continues to raise the meat to the desired temperature.

“We’re not talking about the amount you would throw over a bowl of pasta,” says Niall. “Just a very light dusting, almost like you’re seasoning it a second time. It melts into the steak and brings out a deeper, more savoury beef flavour.”

He adds: “I didn’t believe a steak could taste even beefier by adding one unlikely ingredient. Done properly, it instantly feels like a more premium or aged cut.”

So why does it make a difference?

The foodie says aged beef and aged parmesan both contain exceptionally high levels of glutamates, the compounds responsible for deep savoury flavour. When you bring them together, they reinforce each other, and the steak ends up tasting more intensely beefy rather than cheesy.

“It works best on ribeye and sirloin rather than leaner cuts as the marbling helps carry the flavour, something a fillet doesn’t have,” Niall says.