There’s nothing like sitting down to a special meal and tasting the best meat you’ve ever eaten.

It used to be that only the finest kosher restaurants could source top-quality kosher meat; consumers couldn’t buy it on their own. Prairie Street Prime has changed that by shipping Kosher USDA prime beef, veal and lamb anywhere in the country. So even if you live in an area not served by a kosher butcher or you’re staying in a vacation home, now you can get it delivered to your door.

And, since part of their mission is to make sure you know how to prepare your meat for the best experience possible, they’ve built an in-house media team to create original educational content for the Prairie Street Prime Culinary Kitchen YouTube channel. These engaging instructional videos share step-by-step demos by professional chefs so you can be confident cooking and serving Prairie Street Prime products. You can almost smell the aroma through the screen. So how do they do it? And why?

Necessity is truly the mother of invention. Prairie Street Prime Founder Elliot Moscowitz was living in Brussels, where his wife was on assignment from her job at the United Nations helping with the Syrian refugee crisis. When he couldn’t get kosher meat locally, he formed a group to import it monthly from France. A veteran of Wall Street, he understood that an unmet need is an invitation to create a business. Moscowitz spent the next two years researching how to source and ship USDA prime kosher meat of consistently high quality in the U.S.

“Very few retail outlets have prime beef,” explained Moscowitz in a phone interview. “They have what we call ‘marketing prime’—it looks like nice meat so they call it prime. But less than 5% is real USDA prime. The USDA grades and labels meat according to specifications—like diamonds. We only sell USDA prime.”

Prairie Street Prime Culinary Kitchen has an excellent YouTube video that explains grading. The best meat has marbling—those white lines you see running through the meat. Yes, this is fat. But in the cooking process, the fat is rendered, or dissolved, and dispersed. That’s what makes the meat tender and flavorful.

Moscowitz looks for beef that has been raised with care. Some producers emphasize that their cattle are grass-fed, but that doesn’t give the whole story. “All cattle are pastured for two thirds of their lives,” he said. “It’s the last three months that make a difference. I look for beef that gets switched to a corn-fed diet. That’s what gives the marbling and the flavor. A grass-fed finish doesn’t add that component.”

Proper packaging is critical to shipping meat. Prairie Street Prime flash-freezes the meat the day after it’s cut and ships it in strong box packaging so it stays frozen. And here’s a tip to defrost meat: Put it in the fridge the day before using. And, if you are really pressed for time, run it under cold water in a pan for 30 minutes.

The supply chain struggles that have affected all businesses have impacted meat processing. Moscowitz said that restaurants are having trouble getting quality kosher beef with consistency, so the conventional thinking that restaurant quality is best is not always correct. He has been building his supply of meat for Pesach for over a month, gearing up for strong demand from families and groups.

The pandemic has created huge growth in the concierge market. Families and groups rent vacation homes, organize specially prepared kosher meals at hotels, or have a hotel-like experience in their primary residence, where they engage private chefs whom Moscowitz supplies with Prairie Street Prime meat. The process works several ways: A client can call him and say he or she wants the best meat but needs a chef to prepare it, in which case Moscowitz can recommend a private chef. Chefs call him to say that they are preparing a large meal and order Prairie Street Prime meat directly from him. Moscowitz also supplies caterers managing special-event dinners. Prairie Street Prime recently serviced a group of 15 people at the Waldorf Hotel in Park City, Utah, for a smooth, seamless, luxury culinary experience.

Michele Segelnick started Just What the Kosher Ordered catering in West Hempstead and met Moscowitz through friends. They have done events together from Westhampton Beach to Englewood. She recently catered his son’s bar mitzvah party. “We buy Prairie Street Prime meat for customers who request a premium product,” she said. “His meats are superior. You can tell the difference. Elliot has his hand in every piece of the business; he’s well versed and educated. He has a superior product because of his knowledge and attention to detail.”

Noah Lang started The Kosher Concierge in Florida to coordinate all aspects of a kosher experience for people traveling. Reached in St. Barts, where he was preparing for a wedding, he explained why he loves to work with Prairie Street Prime. “Elliot always gives me what I ask for and it’s perfect,” he said. “I am impressed with how nice his packaging is. I recently did an event in Orlando, and getting good meat there isn’t easy. Elliot had it sent overnight, ready to go. I was excited to have something nice to serve, and didn’t have to stress.”

Cooking technique is just as important to Moscowitz as is the quality of his products. He directs and produces the videos, meeting with the team to discuss both recipes and methods. “Technology in cooking is huge,” he said. “There are so many innovations. It’s not just cast-iron pans or barbecue anymore. Now there’s sous vide, instant pot, smokers; we make a matrix of different methods and products.” A new video premieres each Sunday at 2 p.m ET.

To order from Prairie Street Prime, visit www.prairiestreetprime.com. You can also up your cooking game by subscribing to The Prairie Street Prime Culinary Kitchen on YouTube www.youtube.com/prairiestreetprime

By Bracha Schwartz