“I love a steak! And it’s my love of steak that attracted me to breeding Angus cattle. I chose Angus cattle because of their marbling qualities.”
Though he enjoys a good coffee, Theo Onisforou’s focus is on obtaining, maintaining and consuming Australia’s best quality beef. Theo’s parents emigrated from the island of Cyprus in the 1950s from the small village of St Theodore, hence his name. Settling in Paddington, their only opportunity to revisit their rural heritage was by attending the Sydney Royal Show which they did almost upon arrival and then every year, which was then only a short walk from their home.
Theo and his sister were taken along, initially by pram. “My earliest memory of the show is going to the cattle pavilions with my sister and admiring the cattle. My admiration of the cattle led to my admiration of the breeds,” he observes. “I thought, ‘one of these days, I want to do this’.”
After completing his HSC, Theo visited Cyprus to meet the family there. His uncle ran the village’s only butcher shop and when Theo asked, ‘Why don’t you eat beef?’, he was told it ‘was for wealthy people only’. Being a very arid island meant it was hard to fatten an animal on Cyprus, so the meat consumed there is only either pork or goat.
Jumping forward many years, following graduating university in commerce and law, Theo became an employee of Kerry Packer and bought his first farm with his first big bonus cheque.
Around 35 years ago, Theo started breeding cattle. He then started a pedigree cattle herd, KO Angus Stud, about 25 years ago. “I had the pleasure of showing the Grand Champion Angus exhibit at the Sydney Show in 2012, a bull, and then the following year I had the pleasure of breaking the Australian record price for a bull at $110,000 – the first time a bull had broken six figures.”
Next year, Theo will earn his RAS award for 25 continuous years of showing cattle at the Sydney Show. “I love the Show, I love the cattle, I love Angus cattle.” So why did he choose this particular breed? “I love a steak! And it’s my love of steak that attracted me to breeding Angus cattle. I chose Angus cattle because of their marbling qualities. To me, a marble score steak of about 3 is the optimal steak to eat; above 3 gives you a very fatty aftertaste.”
There are three types of fat in an animal: subcutaneous, the fat immediately under the skin; intermuscular, the fat between the muscles; and intramuscular fat, the marbling. “It’s the intramuscular fat which gives tenderness and moisture to a steak. To me there is nothing better to eat than a high quality, marble score 3 steak.” Also significant, Theo points out that a marble score 3 steak obtains a National Heart Foundation tick of approval, with just under 10% fat.
Theo references the McDonald’s Angus Burger promotion back in 2009 (with reports that the burgers resulted in McDonald’s beef sales soaring up to 20%) as the best possible advertisement for the breed. “Because McDonald’s were marketing it as a premium product.” As he further explains: “Angus evolved from an area in Scotland between Aberdeen and Angus; it’s very cold there, they genetically evolved by laying down fat within the muscle to help protect them against the cold. So the fact that the Angus breed marbles is not an accident.”
In hot countries, in Asia for example, the meat doesn’t marble. Theo suggests readers view illustrations online to see what marbling looks like, so they can work out whether their steak has zero marbling or not. “Those eating Wagyu beef [should] be aware that it does not get the tick. Whereas a marble score 3 does,” he observes.
Near KO Angus, Theo suggests a particular dish. “In Bowral, I always go to Café Rosso. I love and recommend the Veal Lemon, it’s high-quality veal.”
“So everyone will have the opportunity of eating marble score 3 steak. We are the genetic improvers.”
As well as knowing how to pick quality meat, another way to enjoy a good steak that Theo recommends is through dry-ageing, a method which he flags as attracting increasing popularity. Initially he obtained dry-aged beef from Craig Cook Prime Quality Meats. “He [Cook] motivated me into building a dry-ageing room in my home,” admits Theo.
The concept behind dry-aged beef rests on the fact that animals, like human beings, are largely comprised of water. “By removing the water, you’re actually highlighting the flavour. The majority of the dry-ageing is for 60 days.
Another trend, especially prevalent in America, is super-sizing. “Too many restaurants serve too large a portion. The Heart Foundation also says 100 grams in a sitting is fine, so I feel very comfortable in having it three to five times a week because even if I have it five times a week, it’s only 500g and many restaurants will serve 500g in one sitting.”
“If, say, a top quality steak is double the price of an average steak, that’s fine,” he advises. “Because if you can cut down the average steak from 200g to 100g, it’s a much more pleasurable experience and better for you. It ticks all the boxes – excuse the pun.”
In America beef is classified by the US Department of Agriculture, but Australia doesn’t have a similar system. “If you go to a butcher here, you don’t know if you’re buying a 12-month-old steer or a 15-year-old cow,” he warns. “Our aspiration is to improve the whole beef herd in Australia.” Angus is the largest herd in the world and Theo’s business aims to breed bulls with good genetics, with a view to increasing the quality of every steak in Australia.
“So everyone will have the opportunity of eating marble score 3 steak. We are the genetic improvers.”
