Where love meets meat. Meet Amaso, suppliers of meat to the Czech gastronomy scene
Amaso: Guaranteed quality meat
1. The journey is the destination
How did Amaso's journey begin in the first place? With a taste for the good stuff – Czech-produced steak! Vlasta Lacina Jiroš, then head chef of the restaurant Čestr, and Radek Chaloupka, who knew butchery, were on a mission to open a butcher shop called Naše maso. Aged Beef, Amaso's original name, suggests a clear goal – to cook a quality steak. They walked a thorny road full of trial and error, gathered heaps of knowledge and experience and developed into a respected supplier of quality domestic meat.
Later, Roman Frencl, a long-time chef from Café Savoy, and František Kšána, a butcher and smoker from Břevnov, joined the team.
"It seemed strange to us at the time, that cattle are raised here, and yet when we want meat for steaks, we have to bring it from the other side of the world," says Radek Chaloupka. The first small "laboratory" in which Vlasta and Radek tried to demolish quarters and grill their first steaks was created under the restaurant La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise.
They were helped by other chefs from Ambiente, and especially by breeder František Štefunka. He advised them on the theory of ageing and supplied them with quarters from his own slaughterhouse.
However, their mentor soon embarked on a major renovation, and Radek and Vlasta were left to do the research alone. "We rented the very first box in the Jenč plant, got a meat rack and did experiments with ageing," says Vlasta Lacina Jiroš.
Medallion: Vlasta Lacina Jiroš
The oldest chef in Ambiente joined the Máneska restaurant in 1996. Thanks to his distinctive personality, under Vlasta's leadership, other great chefs grew up and are still working in the group today. As a chef at Čestr, his dream was to produce his own meat, so in 2011 he moved to the newly established Amaso. Thanks to Vlasta's tenacity, today Ambiente has its own beef, pork and veal supplier.
2. Meat has to move
You might not think that one of the first setbacks was the lack of wheels on the meat racks. "We had a rack welded that weighed about 200 kg when empty and many times more when loaded, so it was impossible to move. So we emptied it again, loaded it into the car and had the wheels added in the workshop," Radek laughs as he describes the details they didn't even think of at the time, distracted by their passion for tender meat.
3. Fat, the butcher's best friend
Ageing steak meat was uncharted territory for the Czech gastro scene 13 years ago. And so it happened that when Pizza Nuova ordered aged steak from their colleagues at Amaso, each time it had a different consistency – once they got a prime cut that melted on the tongue, but other times the meat was tough and unchewable. And so a solution was sought.
"At that time, we met with Professor Prokůpková from the University of Agriculture and she explained the categories of meat to us theoretically – we talked, among other things, about the crucial role of fat. She also explained to us exactly what happens to meat during maturation. We quickly understood that it is not enough to simply age it, because the origin, genetics and feeding of the animal also play a role," says Vlasta.
They soon discovered that meat suitable for ageing must be covered with fat to make it tender and supple at the end of dry curing. And it's not just diet that has an impact on the fat production!
4. Czech Fleckvieh cattle began to match other breeds
Today, Czech Fleckvieh (also known as 'Čestr') and crossbred (more on this later) are among the terms that define Amaso's production. This breed of Czech cattle won over the butchers because of its potential, which they were able to use to the maximum thanks to ageing in Jenč. Did you know that the term 'ageing', or 'staření' in czech, referring to the dry curing of meat, was coined by Vlasta Lacina Jiroš?
"Typical meat breeds such as Angus or Hereford were chosen for ageing. However, during our experiments, we found that we could get good steaks out of the Czech Fleckvieh too," František recalls the beginnings.
5. For a little inspiration, they'd go to the end of the earth
In order to go one step further, the butchers had to go across the big pond. In New York, they tasted delicious steaks together, talked to local butchers and returned home with a clear plan – to work with fatty breeds, ideally heifers and steers.
At the time, nobody kept heifers and steers in the Czech Republic. "So we thought we'd have to persuade the breeders," Vlasta recalls.
For inspiration and experience, butchers travel the world to this day. Last year, they travelled to Japan to bring delicious, buttery meat to the Czech Republic, – fat marbled wagyu from the Tottori prefecture. This autumn, the butchers are heading to Tuscany where they will visit the famous butcher Dario Cecchini for the umpteenth time.
6. A third more feed, please!
For success (otherwise known as a tender steak) the butchers needed a really fattening cut. They managed to persuade the director of Zbirozska not to "write off" the heifers so early, waiting until they reached 750 kg to send them to slaughter. "But we also had to convince the owner himself, so we took an electric grill to one of the first meetings and grilled a few steaks for them," says Vlasta. It worked! And so the heifers bred for Amaso could be a little bigger and fatter.
The quality of the meat is influenced by the environment and climate, and, especially in the last three months of life, by the feeding regime – the animals have to to put on significant weight. Not only with the development of the feed mixture therefore helped the butchers Association of Czech Fleckvieh Cattle (Čestr).
"One day they came to us in our restaurant, Čestr, and informed us that they had a website called cestr.cz and that many people were calling them to make reservations. That's how our cooperation came about, which was great because they had a great overview of suppliers," says Vlasta.
7. Kšána arrived, along with Přeštice Black-Pied pigs
Amaso's original intention was to process only beef steak. But when František Kšána joined the team on his first trip to New York, his beloved 'přeštík' began to receive attention – a traditional pork breed that was slowly disappearing from Czech farms and menus.
And what kind of a butcher would he be not to also make a name for himself in the sausage industry! "So we started with the classics that we still offer today – all kinds of sausages, Prague ham and English bacon," František lists the products that he taught his colleagues to make.
František Kšána
The butcher from Břevnov, Prague, joined Ambiente in 2012. At that time, he introduced the company's founder Tomáš Karpíšek to the vision of a small butcher shop with Czech meat, which Tomáš and Vlasta had already had in their heads. František started to produce his own sausages at Amaso and two years later he was behind the counter of Naše maso. Today he works permanently at Amaso. At Ambiente, he has been instrumental in popularising pork from Přeštice Black-Pied pigs, lard, sausages and other traditional products.
8. He can do this and he can do that
"We have learnt to play to everyone's strengths and divide tasks accordingly. We have also learned that it is better to involve those who already know the job, rather than trying to do everything ourselves. And we've also worked on communication, both with the team and with each other, but especially with customers and breeders. This was a new experience for us," says Vlasta.
František Kšána, who helped his father in his Břevnov butcher's shop from a very young age, understands the butcher's craft and the sausage-making industry best, which is why he is in charge of the quality and development of not only meat, but especially sausage products at Amaso. Roman Frencl, as the former head chef of Café Savoy, is an excellent organiser and knows how to pass on knowledge and information. He is therefore in charge of everything that goes on in the operation. "Vlasta is the leader type, so he has been the managing director from the beginning," adds František.
Roman Frencl
Having worked as head chef at Café Savoy for thirteen years, he is the most qualified person to fill the so-called liaison position. In addition to inventing new products and improving existing ones, he's the link between butchers and chefs. "I'll come to the restaurant and talk to the chefs about their wishes and ideas, so that they can work as well as possible with our batches of meat," says Roman Frencl, a man of his word.
9. Less is more
Although the volume of work and production has skyrocketed since Amaso opened, the butchers prefer quality over quantity. Thirteen years ago, they started with one piece of beef a week – today they can process up to thirty. Production has also risen significantly for pure-bred Přeštice Black-Pied pigs from two a week to 60 today.
"Although the volume of meat and sausage production at Amaso is constantly increasing, we'd like it to stabilise now. We would like to bring more products to the chefs prepared in a way that they have minimal work to do with them. We will be satisfied if in ten years we are not doing much higher volumes and our products are better than today," Vlasta sums up for the whole team.
10. Patience is like the marbling of fat
You can't see it at first glance, but when you break down the meat, you can see how much flavour and tenderness the fat has added to each bite.
