"The single most important thing here is to use excellent beef from a butcher who grinds aged chuck," he said.

For each meal, she uses beef from her own feed yard and packing facility.

Examples include cheaper cuts of meat - using pork rather than beef or lamb.

He insists on using veal suet rather than beef because it is "much cleaner."

The company advertises burgers in several European countries as using Italian beef.

The companies added, however, that they had not decided whether they would resume using beef from the Hudson plant when it reopened.

"To be honest, we'd like to use American beef, but we cannot," the company said on its Web site.

It also can be used as a partial replacement for ground (minced) beef or pork.

Pork is the traditional meat used, though it is sometimes made using beef.

Kharcho can be made using beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goose.