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3 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,F ebruary 11,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca Bardish.Chagger@parl.gc.ca - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "We have created a society where individual rights and freedoms, compassion, and diversity are core to our citizenship. But underlying that idea of Canada is the promise that we all have a chance to build a better life for ourselves and our children." Bardish.Chagger Bardish_Chagger BardishKW 519-746-1573 Member of Parliament for Waterloo Happy Family Day! Keep well and safe #togetherapart Dayton Pereira is neither chef nor butcher. He's a 20-year veteran tech en- trepreneur who has trained him- self to be a pro when it comes to dry-aged beef. Pereira's Kitchener-based company, Steak Almighty, sourc- es ethically-raised beef from On- tario farmers, dry ages it, and sells it online to customers looking for premium steaks and other cuts. "Knowing how risky restau- rants are, and how complicated retail food businesses are, I want- ed a side hustle that could poten- tially turn into a main hustle," Pereira says. Steak Almighty, as he de- scribes it, is a combination of e- commerce and sustainable, small-batch dry-aged beef sold only online. The idea grew out of his love of good, proper food. "Cooking and food have been an interest for as long as I can re- member. It's been a big part of my family, a big part of when I was growing up. When I'm not work- ing, I'm pretty much in the kitch- en." The start of the pandemic prompted him to tackle the pro- ject. "If there was any time to start an online beef business, this is it," he says. "If I can dry-age beef and sell it online, then I've created a pretty small niche market that I don't have to scale immediately and which has a pretty niche audi- ence as well." He sources Black Angus beef from Mississauga's Artisan Farm and Wagyu from Tim Prior at Grazing Meadows, a farm in Brussels, Ont., an hour north- west of Waterloo Region. Using commercial refrigera- tion that keeps temperature and humidity constant, Pereira says he has refined the art over many years of practice. "You have to take the plunge and cut a few terrible steaks," he jokes. "Many, in fact." The process of dry aging takes a cut of beef (loin is a ma- jor primal; brisket a minor) with as much fat and bone as possible and let it age, unwrapped, in open air in temperatures be- tween two- and four-degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 85 per cent. "Conceptually it's straightfor- ward, but practically it's a little more difficult," Pereira says. "You put the cuts in a tempera- ture- and humidity-controlled environment with a lot of air cir- culating and leave it under those conditions for the time you are dry aging it." For Pereira, that time is 45 to 100 days. "Dry aging concentrates beef flavours and tenderizes it, especially in the first three weeks. After that, you're seeing even more flavour development." He says his best products -- the ones that work best with dry aging -- are rib and the short loin, but there are also other in- teresting cuts from the chuck, such as flatiron, tri-tip and the Denver, among others. He also sells a 60-day-aged sir- loin burger that's just full sirloin. "It's all steak burger," he says. Customers can buy one item or more, with no subscription or membership; prices are similar to those at area high-quality butcher shops, he says. Shipping packaging is recyclable. There are several artisanal meat companies out there, but Pereira says he just focuses on the best, ethically-managed farms he can find and puts to work his knowledge and experi- ence of the dry-aging process. An important element to con- sider with any food business is not only knowing where your food comes from, but adopting a philosophy of eating less beef but better beef -- from animals that have been well-cared for and where the farmers raising them are making a good living. That's Pereria's philosophy, which you'll find online in Steak Almighty's "Manifesto." "That's the whole business plan," he says. "When you eat meat, eat the best quality you can afford and ethically sourced. Support local too." Check it out at steakalmighty- .com. Andrew Coppolino is a Kitche- ner-based food writer and broad- caster. Visit him at www.andrew- coppolino.com. OPINION THE MEAT OF THE MATTER COMPANY SOURCES ETHICALLY-RAISED BEEF FROM ONTARIO FARMERS, DRY AGES IT, AND SELLS IT ONLINE, WRITES ANDREW COPPOLINO ANDREW COPPOLINO Column Dayton Pereira is a 20-year veteran tech entrepreneur who has trained himself to be a pro when it comes to dry-aged beef. Andrew Coppolino photo YOUR CITY Visit waterloochronicle.ca for more coverage