Everything about Corned Beef totally explained
Corned beef is a cut of beef (usually
brisket, but sometimes
round or
silverside)
cured or
pickled in a seasoned
brine.
The "corn" in "corned beef" refers to the "corn" or grains of coarse salts used to cure it. The
Oxford English Dictionary dates the usage of "corn," meaning "small hard particle, a grain, as of sand or salt," to
888, and the term "corned beef" to
1621. The term "corned beef" can denote different styles of
brine-cured beef, depending on the region. Traditional corned beef is highly seasoned and often considered
delicatessen fare.
Canada and the United States
In the United States, corned beef is often purchased precooked, as in delicatessens. Perhaps the most famous sandwich made with it's the traditional corned beef on rye, a very thick sandwich made with thinly sliced corned beef, "Jewish"
rye bread made with
caraway seeds, and mustard or horseradish. Also famous is the
Reuben sandwich, consisting of corned beef,
Swiss cheese,
sauerkraut, and
Thousand Island or
Russian dressing on
rye bread which is then grilled on a flat
griddle or in a
cast iron pan in oil.
Corned beef
hash is commonly served as a
breakfast food with
eggs and
hash browns.
Smoking corned beef, usually with the addition of extra spices such as
black pepper, produces a
cold cut known as
pastrami.
Saint Patrick's Day
The consumption of corned beef is associated with
Saint Patrick's Day, when many
Irish Americans eat a traditional meal of corned beef and
cabbage. According to
the History Channel, while cabbage has become a traditional food item for Irish-Americans, corned beef was originally a substitute for
bacon in the late 1800s. Irish immigrants living in
New York City's
Lower East Side sought an equivalent in taste and texture to their traditional Irish bacon, and learned about this cheaper alternative to bacon from their
Jewish neighbors. A similar dish is the
New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef, cabbage, and root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, and potatoes, which is popular in
New England and parts of
Atlantic Canada.
As St. Patrick's Day occurs annually during
Lent, the corned beef tradition caused controversy among American
Catholic dioceses in
2000 and
2006, when the holiday fell on a Friday.
Lenten custom dictates that no meat be consumed on Fridays during Lent, but some bishops granted
dispensations to their dioceses for eating corned beef on St. Patrick's Day. This rare occurrence will next happen on Friday in 2017.
Germany
Two canned versions of commercial corned beef are sold in
Germany. The original is usually called
American Corned Beef and consists of finely shredded corned beef with a high fat content and is similar to
Spam. Another version is called
Deutsches Corned Beef and is closer to the product described above. It isn't as finely shredded, it contains chunks of corned beef and is usually embedded in
aspic.
Deutsches Corned Beef is also sold in slices at supermarket meat counters and butcher shops.
UK
The product known as 'corned beef' in the US is sold as 'salt beef' in the UK, and is commonly found served on bagels with mustard and gherkins. Confusingly, there's also a product called 'corned beef' sold in the UK. It is sold as tins (cans) of a distinctive shape containing finely ground meat. A typical ingredients list is: Beef, Salt, Sugar,
Sodium Nitrite. A 100 gram portion contains 12.5 grams of fat and 2.3 grams of salt.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Corned Beef'.
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