Corned beef
Categories: Cold cut | Beef | Jewish foods | Pickles
Corned beef is beef that is first pickled in brine and then cooked by boiling. Usually, cuts of meat are used that feature long muscle grain, such as the brisket.
The name corned beef is due to a coarse salt used in the pickling process. Corn originally meant grain, as in a small particle of something, and referred to the corns of salt.
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In the United States
In the United States, corned beef is often purchased at delicatessens. Perhaps the most famous sandwich made with it is the Reuben sandwich, consisting of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread and served hot.
It is also associated with Saint Patrick's Day when Irish Americans eat a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage. According to the History Channel, while cabbage has long been a traditional food item for the Irish, corned beef serving as a substitute for Irish bacon, first became traditional in the late 1800s. Irish immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side learned about this cheaper alternative to bacon from their Jewish neighbors.
Corned beef hash is commonly served as a breakfast food with eggs.
Local variants
- New York style corned beef is called pastrami, which is highly spiced.
- Montreal style corned beef is called smoked meat, or less commonly, smoked beef.
In other countries
In the United Kingdom corned beef is normally bought in canned form, and usually regarded as a 'cheap' foodstuff. Most of it is sourced from Brazil and Argentina. It is common in the United States in this form, as well. It is known in UK military circles as bully-beef.
In Denmark corned beef is alternatively known as either saltkød (lit. "cured meat") or sprængt oksebryst (lit. "lightly salted beef brisket"). Traditional uses of the two are distinctive. Saltkød is used as a cold cut (pålæg), and figures prominently in the famous Danish open sandwich, smørrebrød, called Dyrlægens natmad (lit, "Veterinarian's midnight snack")— On a piece of dark rye bread, a layer of liver paté (leverpostej) is topped with a slice of corned beef (salt kød) and a slice of meat aspic (sky). This is all decorated with raw onion rings and cress. Sprængt oksebryst, on the other hand, is often served warm, as well as cold. It is traditionally served warm with boiled potatoes, horseradish sauce and pickles, a mixture of chopped, pickled vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, onion) in a yellow gelatinous sauce.
19th century corned beef recipe
- Fifty pounds (23 kg) of beef
- Three pounds of coarse salt
- One ounce of saltpeter
- Three-quarters of a pound of sugar
- Two gallons of water
Mix the above ingredients together and pour over the meat. Cover the tub closely.