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Thank you for your inquiry; we've always wondered that ourselves. The real question here is, "How do you corn something?" We've got a pretty good grasp of the beef concept, but the "corning" process is certainly mysterious. Dictionary.com defines corned beef as "beef cured or pickled in brine." Brine is salt water. Corned beef is traditionally served on Easter Sunday in Ireland -- the beef was salted through the winter to preserve it over Lent. It's also served on St. Patrick's Day! Where does the word "corned" come from? According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service of our very own Department of Agriculture, "The name comes from Anglo-Saxon times before refrigeration.
In those days, the meat was dry-cured in coarse "corns" of salt. Pellets of salt, some the size of kernels of corn, were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it." So there you have it. At saltandpepper.com, an excellent archive of recipes culled from usenet groups, we stumbled upon the holy grail of corned beef enthusiasts -- a recipe for making it from scratch. The brine is fairly straightforward: water, kosher salt, prague powder, and powdered dextrose. Next, soak the brisket (i.e. the ribs and meat from the chest of the cow) in the brine for about four days. Voila, corned beef. Now, add cabbage
and potatoes, and have a Happy Paddy's Day.
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