In the oft-confusing world of fine cuisine, with exotic meat choices confounding even the most adventurous palate, there is nothing quite like the traditional taste of prime beef steaks. Hearty, meaty, and delicious, prime beef steaks are a taste that can stand on their own, fresh and hot off the grill, with little need for spice or garnish.

Only about 2% of all beef produced every year in the United States is good enough to be considered prime. Beef steaks that are rated as prime cuts can be identified by their deep red color with a good deal of “marbling”, which is the visible pattern of white fat running through the meat. Usually, prime beef steaks are only available in restaurants and in fine butcher shops. In a typical grocery store, even if you find the best-rated cut of meat, steaks rated as “choice” are usually the best available.

With the convenience of a point and click, however, prime beef steaks can be ordered and delivered right to your door, flash frozen and shipped overnight. With the open market of the Internet, many smaller ranches and even larger suppliers have started making their prime beef steaks available to the public.

Prime meat is no longer just reserved for specialty butcher shops and four-star restaurants. Many websites that offer prime beef steaks also have gift services, some even offering a gift wrap service, so they can be given as a creative and innovative gift, arriving frozen and packed with dry ice or in Styrofoam, shipped overnight or delayed delivery. Many of these websites also have gift certificates available.

Prime beef steaks are a simple delicacy. Merely cooked with a light brush of oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, these steaks can stand on their own under the highest scrutiny. Of course, adding traditional steak garnishes, such as sauteed onions and mushrooms or cloves of roasted garlic, will enhance the flavor. Try cooking the steaks medium to medium rare and then serving with a loaf of crusty bread to soak up the juices left behind.

You haven't truly had steak until you've experienced the gourmet simplicity of prime beef steaks.