Discover one of the world’s most exclusive meat that hibernates for up to 15 years!

Polmard, a small farm in Saint Mihiel, a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France, produces one of the world’s most exclusive meat using a process called hibernation, that allows the meat to be stored and cured for up to 15 years with no loss of quality.

Alexandre Polmard is a sixth-generation farmer, breeder, and butcher in a family that has been producing beef cuts since 1846.
However, the business rose to prominence in the 1990s, after his grandfather and father invented a new and revolutionary meat treatment they dubbed “hibernation”.
In short, cold air is blown at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour over the meat in a -43 C environment at the farm’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Saint Mihiel, a process that allows the meat to be cured for over a decade, with no loss of quality.
As you can imagine, the longer the curing time, the higher the quality, and the price, with one kilogram of 15-year-old hibernated rib steak selling for an impressive $3,200!
Alexandre uses a very special aging process, and apparently he is the first butcher in the world to do it. even though he don’t say his beef is the best in the world because every meat is different, like wine.
And not just any old cow will do, as he and his family raise Blonde Aquitaine cattle outside the small town of Saint Mihiel in the Meuse region of Lorraine.
His family wouldn’t dream of raising animals in sheds where they have no space or room to roam, as they are in the open air, living in forests and on parkland, and there are shelters they can choose to visit in case it rains or snows.
Alexandre also says he talks to his animals daily, ensuring their lives are as comfortable and stress-free as possible, even when it becomes time for them to end.
Increases in a cow’s stress levels as it enters an abattoir cause a subsequent spike in levels of glycogen and lactic acid, and that means a loss of tenderness and, ultimately, flavor.
Alexandre is therefore investing about a million euros in an abattoir at his farm in which only four cows will be killed per week, and in a unique setting to keep stress levels to an absolute minimum.

Either way, to create the world’s most exclusive meat, Alexandre begins with Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle which are raised free-range on the Polmard family’s farm to minimize stress, and then comes the hibernation process which allows the meat to mature over much longer periods than usual.
Dry-aged beef is typically matured for a few weeks, while the Polmard hibernation makes it possible to mature it for 15 years, and actually meat can be stored safely for any length of time.
This hibernated meat is something legendary among restauranteurs, few of which can actually say they serve the world’s most coveted steaks in their establishments.
Apparently, customers have even to put their names down months in advance to reserve Polmard beef cuts, but Alexandre only entrusts his vintage meat to a handful of trusted restaurants around the world.
He even pays them a visit beforehand to make sure they understand the subtleties of his hibernated meat and, As with wine, different vintages of beef have different tastes and attributes!

Images from web – Google Research