Salt-cured meat

Salt-cured meat

Salt-cured meat or salted meat, for example ham, bacon, or kippered herring, is meat or fish preserved or cured by salt or brine. Beef jerky also is involved in salt preservation. Salted meat and fish are commonly eaten as a staple of the diet in North Africa, Southern China, and in the Arctic where they are associated with nasopharyngeal cancer caused by infection by the Epstein-Barr Virus. One study hypothesizes that a covector is anaerobic bacteria found in salted fish. [ [http://www.the-scientist.com/yr1999/mar/watanabe_p1_990315.html Article in The Scientist Volume 13, No. 6:1, Mar. 15, 1999 (registration required)] ] (not a verified study)

Because salting was the only widely available method of preserving food until the 19th century, salted meat was a staple of the mariner's diet in the Age of Sail. It was stored in barrels, and often had to last for months spent out of sight of land. The basic Royal Navy diet consisted of salted beef, salted pork, ship's biscuit, and oatmeal, supplemented with smaller quantities of peas, cheese and butter. [http://www.hmsrichmond.org/diet.htm]

Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of unwanted bacteria. Smoking, often used in the process of curing meat, adds chemicals to the surface of meat that reduce the concentration of salt required.

'Salt beef' in the UK and Commonwealth as a cured and boiled foodstuff is sometimes known as 'Corned beef' elsewhere, though traditional salt beef is different in taste and preparation. The use of the term "corned" comes from the fact that the Middle English word corn could refer to grains of salt as well as cereal grains.

ee also

*Corned beef
*Curing (food preservation)
*Jerky (food)

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cured salmon — and other fish recipes have been found in many cultures stretching from the people of early to modern Scandinavia to the Native Americans. The process of curing meat has been around for a significant amount of time as it has been used as a way to …   Wikipedia

  • Meat — For other uses, see Meat (disambiguation). Varieties of meat Meat is animal flesh that is used as food.[1] Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but …   Wikipedia

  • meat processing — Introduction       preparation of meat for human consumption.       Meat is the common term used to describe the edible portion of animal tissues and any processed or manufactured products prepared from these tissues. Meats are often classified… …   Universalium

  • Meat preservation — Slices of beef in a box. Meat preservation (including livestock, game poultry), includes a set treatment processes for preserving nutritious properties, taste, texture and color of raw, partially cooked or cooked meats while keeping them edible… …   Wikipedia

  • salt pork — noun fat from the back and sides and belly of a hog carcass cured with salt • Hypernyms: ↑pork, ↑porc • Hyponyms: ↑fatback, ↑sowbelly * * * noun : pork cured in salt or brine; specifically …   Useful english dictionary

  • salt — salt1 saltlike, adj. /sawlt/, n. 1. a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc. 2. table salt mixed with a particular herb or… …   Universalium

  • salt — [[t]sɔlt[/t]] n. 1) mir a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring chiefly as a mineral or a constituent of seawater, and used for seasoning food and as a preservative 2) chem. any of a class of chemical compounds formed by… …   From formal English to slang

  • Red meat — For other uses, see Red meat (disambiguation). Red meat in traditional culinary terminology is meat which is red when raw and not white when cooked. In the nutritional sciences, red meat includes all mammal meat. Red meat includes the meat of… …   Wikipedia

  • White meat — Roast chicken, the most commonly eaten white meat White meat or light meat refers to the lighter colored meat of poultry as contrasted with dark meat. In a more general sense, white meat may also refer to any lighter colored meat, as contrasted… …   Wikipedia

  • Ethics of eating meat — Various types of meats In many societies, controversy and debate have arisen over the ethics of eating animals. Ethical objections are generally divided into opposition to the act of killing in general, and opposition to certain agricultural… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”