Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The dish about corned beef: It's not Irish
Larry Bly
Larry Bly runs an ad agency and does freelance writing in the Roanoke area.
Recent columns
TO BRINE A BEEF BRISKET
- Boil the water in a large pot and stir in salt. Cook until dissolved. Allow the liquid to cool fully, then stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Submerge the brisket in the brine in a large, nonreactive container such as a plastic tub or a large turkey roasting bag. Do NOT use a metal container.
- If possible, use a turkey injector to inject some of the brine into the brisket before soaking.
- Refrigerate the brine and brisket in the container for 24 to 48 hours, then cook using the braising method.
- Discard brine before cooking.
- —Virginia Beef Industry Council
Corned beef -- that juicy, savory St. Patrick's Day staple -- will be on many a dining table this weekend.
But while lovers of the tender treat blissfully scarf it down with cabbage, potatoes and perhaps a frosty beer, others are pushing their shopping carts right past those pre-packaged hunks of meat with their weird spice packets.
They are the corned beef skeptics -- the consumers who only recognize this meat if it comes between two slices of rye bread with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Or the ones who do not recognize it at all.
They may wonder: Just what does "corned" mean, anyway?
Well, after a little research, we bring you everything you ever wanted to know about corned beef, and then some.
Q: What the heck IS corned beef?
A: Corned beef usually starts with a fresh beef brisket, which comes from the breast area of the cow under the first five ribs. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, corned beef briskets were actually dry-cured in early times using a coarse salt. Some of the salt crystals were the size and shape of corn kernels. Hence the name "corned" beef.
Nowadays, the briskets are instead soaked in brine, or salt water. But the name of the dish has remained the same.
Q: Why is it corned, or brined?
A: Billie Raper, executive chef for Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, says the beef brisket cut typically has a lot of connective tissue and is quite tough. So brining the meat helps tenderize it.
Also, before refrigeration, the salt's preserving effect was a way to keep the meat for a long period of time.
"If you go back to days when people came across the ocean on ships, if they wanted meat it would have to be heavily salted or else it would spoil," said Joe Eifert, an associate professor of food science at Virginia Tech.
Q: Why do the Irish eat corned beef on St. Patrick's Day?
A: Despite the popular assumption that corned beef originated in Ireland, it was probably born in New York instead, says Russ Haggerty, who runs the Web site irishcultureandcustoms.com with his wife, Bridget.
The Haggertys say beef was too expensive to be part of the Irish diet until the last century or so. Before that, pork was most often eaten, and a celebratory meal more likely included a boiled bacon joint with cabbage.
When the Irish began to emigrate to America in the 19th century, they missed their traditional rashers and found that corned beef was inexpensive. The fact that it lasted the winter didn't hurt, either, and may explain why March, the cusp of spring, became a popular time to eat it.
Today, the dish is served in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, but traditionalists insist that's mostly for tourists. In fact, a 2004 poem by Frances Shilliday called "Good Grief -- Not Beef!" starts out:
"I just want to put something straight
about what should be on your plate,
if it's corned beef you're makin'
you're sadly mistaken
that isn't what Irishmen ate."
Q: How do you select a good brisket?
A: Briskets are usually divided into two sections called the flat cut and the point cut. Patrick Price of Custom Meats in Blacksburg says the flat cut has a smaller fat cap and no fat seam running through it, unlike the point cut.
Pre-brined briskets are available in most grocery store meat departments and are typically made from the flat cut, which runs 3 to 5 pounds on average.
If you are ambitious enough to brine your own brisket, Raper said, choose according to your own taste. Most folks like a leaner cut of meat, but there are occasional diners who prefer the fuller flavor of a fattier cut.
Fresh briskets may be more difficult to find. Kroger does not carry them, but Fresh Market does stock them, as do O'Brien's Meats in Salem and Custom Meats. Call ahead to your local butcher to be sure.
Q: How do you cook it?
A: If prepared correctly, Raper says, corned beef brisket is loaded with flavor and melts in your mouth.
He suggests using a turkey roaster or a dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid to slowly braise the brisket. If cooked too fast, the brisket will be tough.
If using a pre-brined brisket, rinse it first and sprinkle the contents of the seasoning packet over the surface of the beef after you've placed it in the pan. If desired, you can also poke a few small slits in the roast with a knife and insert chunks of fresh garlic.
When braising in the oven, barely cover the meat with water before cooking.
Corned beef briskets should be cooked at 325 to 350 degrees for about one hour per pound, or until the beef reaches a core temperature of at least 160 degrees.
Always slice corned beef against the grain.
To add an element that really is traditionally Irish, quarter a head of cabbage and add that to the pot for the last 45 minutes of cooking.
With leftovers, of course, you can always make that reuben.
