The Origin of the Worldwide Porterhouse Steak

Porterhouse Steak is also known as the “King of T-Bones”. Yes, basically T-Bone Steak and Porterhouse Steak are the same, which differ only in the size or size of the cut of meat. Both come from the short loin muscle which is divided into two sides, one side is a tenderloin filet and the other side is toploin or better known as New York Strip Steak. The Porterhouse is larger than the Tenderloin. As determined by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), the agency that establishes the labeling and certification of meat in America, steak thickness must be more than 1.25” to be categorized as Porterhouse Steak, while T-Bone Steak must have a thickness greater than 0. 25".

Porterhouse Steak The Controversial Name

The name "Porterhouse" is highly controversial. Even some regions in America and England are scrambling to claim the origin of the steak.

The Oxford Dictionary notes that quoted in 1814 was Martin Morisson, owner of the Manhattan Inn "Porter House" who was the first to enjoy an extra-large T-Bone Steak for his dinner. However, various literature sources consider this statement to be false because the information is not supported by strong evidence.

On the other hand, several other sources state that the name Steak Porterhouse comes from the name of a resting place "Porterhouse" which is located by a railroad track that provides lodging facilities for exhausted travelers across the United States. This story in the 1800's mentions that Porterhouse provides a large serving of steak and a glass of black wine at a low price that really spoils the hungry and exhausted tourists. Porterhouse then quickly became famous and since then the Porterhouse name has been associated with a super jumbo steak dish.

Another story from the 19th century. Historical records in this century mention a person named Zachariah B. Porter, he was the landlord who owned a hotel in the area of ​​Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Porter likes to challenge his guests to finish the super jumbo steak served at his hotel. This story then spread so that many people came to try Mr. challenge. Porter. Finally, the steak menu was named after his name, Porterhouse Steak. https://videogamemods.com/members/wineandsteak/activity/108009/

Moving on to 1842, found documentation of the story written by Cornelius Matthews in his book "The Career of Puffer Hopkins". In the book written excerpts of the actor's sentence when when ordering food at a famous hotel, he asked for a small, boneless Porterhouse Steak, a request that went against the trend of Porterhouse portions which were famous for jumbo at that time.