Brisket

Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest. While all meat animals have a brisket, the term is most often used to describe beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the eight beef primal cuts. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, the term derives from the Middle English "brusket" which comes from the earlier Old Norse "brjōsk", meaning cartilage. The cut overlies the sternum, ribs and connecting costal cartilages.

Cows lie on this enlarged part of the sternum which carries about 60% of the body weight.

In the U.S., the whole brisket has the meat-cutting classification NAMP 120. The brisket is made up of two separate muscles (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor), which are sometimes separated for retail cutting: the lean "first cut" or "flat cut" is NAMP 120A, while the fattier "second cut", "point", "deckel", "fat end", or "triangular cut" is NAMP 120B.

International cuisine

Brisket can be cooked many ways. Popular methods in the U.S. Southern States include rubbing with a spice rub or marinating the meat, then cooking slowly over indirect heat from charcoal or wood. This is a form of smoking the meat. Additional basting of the meat is often done during the cooking process. However, most of the tenderness from this normally tougher cut of meat comes from the fat cap often left attached to the brisket. The brisket is almost always placed with the fat on top so that it slowly dissolves down into the meat as it cooks, resulting in a more juicy and tender meat. A hardwood, such as pecan, hickory, or mesquite is sometimes added, alone or in combination with other hardwoods, to the main heat source. Sometimes, they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor. The finished meat is a variation of barbecue. Once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends. Smoked brisket done this way is most popular in Texas.

In traditional Jewish cooking, brisket is most often braised as a pot roast.

In areas of southern China, especially Hong Kong, it is cooked with spices over low heat until tender and commonly served with noodles in soup.

It is a common cut of meat for use in Vietnamese Phở soup.

Brisket is also the most popular cut for corned beef.

References

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