Information AboutBeef |
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Beef is Meat obtained from a Bovine . Beef is one of the principal meats used in European Cuisine and Cuisine of The Americas , and is important in Africa , East Asia , and Southeast Asia as well. In the Middle East , it is very rare to have Lunch without beef. Beef can be cut into Steak , Pot Roast s, short ribs, or ground into Hamburger . Several Asian and European nationalities include the Blood in their cuisine as well -- it is used in some varieties of Blood Sausage . Other beef variety meats include the Tongue , which is usually sliced for Sandwich es in Western Cooking ; Tripe from the Stomach ; various Gland s—particularly the Pancreas and Thyroid —referred to as Sweetbread s; the Heart , the Brain , the Liver , the Kidney s; and the tender Testicle s of the bull commonly known as "beef balls", "calf fries", "prairie oysters", or " Rocky Mountain Oysters ." The better cuts are usually obtained from steers, as heifers tend to be kept for Breeding . Older animals are used for beef when they are past their Reproductive prime. The meat from older cows and bulls is generally tougher, so it is frequently used for ground beef. Cattle raised for beef may be allowed to roam free on Grassland s, or may be confined at some stage in pens as part of a large feeding operation called a Feedlot . The United States , Brazil , the EU , China , and India , are the world's five largest producers of beef. Beef production is also important to the Economies of Nicaragua , Argentina , the Russian Federation , Australia , Mexico , and Canada . USDA BEEF GRADES In the United States, the USDA operates a voluntary beef grading program. The meat processor pays for the presence of a highly trained USDA meat grader who grades the whole carcass prior to fabrication. The carcass grade is stamped on each primal cut (six stamps) and applied with roller stamp to each side as well. You can often see traces of the USDA grading stamp on boxed primal cuts. The grades are based on two main criteria, the degree of marbling (intramuscular fat) in the beef rib eye and the age of the animal prior to Slaughter . Some meat scientists object to the current scheme of USDA grading since it does not take tenderness into account. Most other countries' beef grading systems mirror the US model. Most beef offered for sale in Supermarket s is graded ''choice'' or ''select''. Prime beef is sold to hotels and upscale restaurants. Beef that would rate as ''Standard'' or leaner is almost never offered for grading.
CUTS OF BEEF (This section denotes the American system of beef cutting. Other cultures have similar systems, but the exact cuts and terminology differ). Primal cuts Beef is first divided into ''primal cuts''. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. The following is a list of the primal cuts, ordered front to back, then top to bottom. The short loin and the sirloin are sometimes considered as one section. When looking at a diagram such as the one above, note that the closer to the middle back, the more tender the meat is. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes progressively more tender as distance from "hoof and horn" increases. ''upper half''
''lower half''
Also see the External Links section below for links to more beef cut charts and diagrams. SPECIAL BEEF DESIGNATIONS
RELIGIOUS PROSCRIPTION Beef is a Taboo Meat in a number of religions, most notably Hinduism , whose adherents consider Cows Deserving Of Reverence . Also, consumption of beef (along with other meats) is frowned upon by many Buddhists , although it is not strictly taboo. In Judaism , beef is one of the meats considered Kosher , if butchered and prepared in accordance with religious law ( Shechita ), under the supervision of a Rabbi . Beef is also considered Halaal by Muslims under similar strictures. "MAD COW DISEASE" The over-intensive farming of beef resulted in the world's first recognised outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or, colloquially, "mad cow disease") in the United Kingdom in 1986 . Eating beef from cattle with BSE is thought to have caused the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD) in about 131 cases (2003 June data) in the United Kingdom and some few in France. The perception of beef as potentially lethal caused significant damage to the UK beef industry. The attempts to wipe out BSE in the UK by a kill-and-burn campaign, although ultimately successful, did further damage from which the beef industry is only recently recovering. Since then, a number of other countries have had outbreaks of BSE. BSE is an illness that cattle can get by feeding them other animals (especially their brains and spines), including their own. Due to a BSE scare in 2004, the American border was briefly closed to live Canadian cows, but was reopened in early 2005. BEEF IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE The word "beef" occurs in various slang forms in American English that are unrelated to it being a type of meat, but perhaps more to the animal it comes from. Beef is used in a noun form in the phrase "to have (a) beef", the use of which dates back to the 19th Century, when "to beef" initially meant to loudly complain about something. The phrase means to have a Feud or Dispute with another party, usually an odious and publically known one. It was re-popularized by Hip Hop Music , especially the late Notorious B.I.G. , who had a song entitled "What's Beef". Beef can also be used as the adjective "beefy" describing someone's weight, or rather their excess amount of it. However, a "beefcake" is a male considered desirable by women, due to his robust physique. This meaning relates back to an earlier meaning of "beefy" as a synonym for "muscular" or "well-built". Finally, "to beef up" has the same meaning as "to reinforce" or "to shore up", usually seen in connection with increasing numbers of Soldier s, Police , or other Security measures in response to a perceived threat. The absence of beef also made a notable appearance in American Pop Culture . During the 1980 's, there was an ad campaign entitled "Where's the Beef?" in which patrons of other fast food restaurants examined the Hamburger s and pronounced the amount of beef lacking. The phrase has become synonymous with anything lacking substance. In British English , beef is far more established in Colloquialism s, though many are vulgar. Beef also gets a more playful treatment from the British through Cockney Rhyming Slang ; instead of saying "beef" one could say "stop thief" or "itchy teeth" to start the non-completed Rhyme format. And, according to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, there is a Rhyming Slang to describe the act of flatulation - "beef-heart". EXTERNAL LINKS
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