A tide of Texas jokes followed the posting of the above photo on Monday night.

“Texas carpaccio?” jibed one from the safety of California.

“That looks like an upside-down state of Texas!” opined another from the towers of Brooklyn.

Alas, if only my coastal friends would come and see what a culturally rich, wonderfully diverse, and left-tilting city we have here in Houston! Maybe the Texas jokes would subside then.

One of my best friends in Italy, Renato, a professional chef, taught me to cook my fiorentina like that.

Before you sear it on either side, you cook it upright to let the bone heat through. By doing so, you can still finish it blood-rare without undercooking the meat. The technique also makes the steak even more juicy and flavorful by releasing the flavor in the marrow — again, without overcooking the al sangue steak.

As comrade Howard likes to say, one man’s meat is another man’s Parzen. Ain’t that a beautiful piece of beef? We can all agree on that.

I hope your Memorial Day was swell!