The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. For the canned product known as corned beef in the United Kingdom, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, see Bully beef. Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. Corned beef stew recipes include nitrates, which convert the natural myoglobin in beef to nitrosomyoglobin, giving it a pink color.
Corned beef was a popular meal throughout numerous wars, including World War I and World War II, during which fresh meat was rationed. It also remains popular worldwide as an ingredient in a variety of regional dishes and as a common part in modern field rations of various armed forces around the world. Although the exact origin of corned beef is unknown, it most likely came about when people began preserving meat through salt-curing. Evidence of its legacy is apparent in numerous cultures, including ancient Europe and the Middle East.
Although the practice of curing beef was found locally in many cultures, the industrial production of corned beef started in the British Industrial Revolution. Irish corned beef was used and traded extensively from the 17th century to the mid-19th century for British civilian consumption and as provisions for the British naval fleets and North American armies due to its nonperishable nature. Ireland produced a significant amount of the corned beef in the Atlantic trade from local cattle and salt imported from the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France. Despite being a major producer of beef, most of the people of Ireland during this period consumed little of the meat produced, in either fresh or salted form, due to its prohibitive cost. The lack of beef or corned beef in the Irish diet was especially true in the north of Ireland and areas away from the major centres for corned beef production. However, individuals living in these production centres such as Cork did consume the product to a certain extent.
Corned beef became a less important commodity in the 19th century Atlantic world, due in part to the abolition of slavery, Corned beef production and its canned form remained an important food source during the Second World War. In North America, corned beef dishes are associated with traditional British, Irish, and Jewish cuisines. Mark Kurlansky, in his book Salt, states that the Irish produced a salted beef around the Middle Ages that was the “forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef” and in the 17th century, the English named the Irish salted beef “corned beef”. Before the wave of 19th century Irish immigration to the United States, many of the ethnic Irish did not consume corned beef dishes.
The popularity of corned beef compared to back bacon among the immigrant Irish may have been due to corned beef being considered a luxury product in their native land, while it was cheap and readily available in the United States. The Jewish population produced similar corned beef brisket, also smoking it into pastrami. Irish immigrants often purchased corned beef from Jewish butchers. This exchange was an example of the close interactions in everyday life of people from these two cultures in the United States’ main 19th and 20th century immigrant port of entry, New York City.
Canned corned beef has long been one of the standard meals included in military field ration packs globally, due to its simplicity and instant preparation. Corned beef is often purchased ready to eat in Jewish delicatessens. Corned beef hashed with potatoes served with eggs is a common breakfast dish in the United States of America. In both the United States and Canada, corned beef is sold in cans in minced form. It is also sold this way in Puerto Rico and Uruguay. Corned beef is known specifically as “salt beef” in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is sold in buckets with brine to preserve the beef.