As you know, pig meat is called pork, chicken - chicken, lamb - mutton, etc. Therefore, the word "beef" is confusing for some people. Why does this word sound that way? Why is beef called beef and not “cow”?
Cattle in antiquity
As we know, our ancestors-Slavs were engaged in animal husbandry thousands of years ago. And once upon a time, cows and bulls were called the word "beef" not too familiar to the ear of a modern person. Literally, it was translated as cattle. And, of course, the meat of such pets was called beef. The word "beef" now no one uses. Its derivative, which means cattle meat, has been preserved in our language to this day.
In terms of the origin of the word “beef” itself, some ethnologists put forward a rather interesting version. Such a hypothesis really exists, and of course we cannot ignore it. The fact is that in “beef” one can quite clearly hear the consonance of the modern word denoting feces. So, some researchers believe that cows were once called that because of the large "flat cakes" they left everywhere.
Why meat is called beef: Indo-European roots
There is another version regarding the origin of the word “beef” (or govedo). Some researchers believe that this ancient noun has not only Old Slavonic origin, but even Indo-European. And they have reason enough to think so.
The word govedo, which answers the question of why beef is called beef, is very similar to the word govs, which was once used by Indo-Europeans. Consonant govs words are still preserved in the languages of many peoples of the Northern Hemisphere. For example, cow in English and kov in Armenian means “cow”.
Why beef is called beef: Dahl dictionary
As you know, in antiquity, bulls used to go for meat most often. Cows were usually kept only for milk. Therefore, they could live on the farm for many years. Butts were cut as soon as they gained enough weight. The Dahl Dictionary states that “beef” is cattle. But the emphasis is on bulls. That is, according to Dahl, it turns out that "beef" literally is "meat taken from a bull."
Today, cows in Russia are also kept mainly for milk. Female cattle is killed only when it loses productivity due to age. However, at present, we also have farmers in the country who breed cattle of non-dairy, namely, meat breeds. In such farms, after gaining the right weight, both gobies and cows can be killed. After all, they contain animals in this case not for the sake of milk.
That is, on the shelves of shops these days you can find both the meat of cows and gobies. In this case, in both cases, it will be called beef. That is, if Dahl compiled his dictionary today, the emphasis only on the bulls, he probably would not have done.
Synonyms
So, why beef is called beef, more or less understandable. The origin of this word is thus quite ancient. Most likely, they call cow meat in this way on the territory of our country for more than one millennium. But this word also has a modern synonym.
The name "cow", of course, we do not use today. However, in Russian there is a very well-known word "veal". It designates high-quality meat of very young cattle - both gobies and heifers.
European traditions
So, we found out why cow meat is called beef. Actually, this word itself in our time has a distribution mainly only in Russia. In Europe, for example, the meat of cows and bulls is considered second-rate and is rarely consumed. In richer than the Russian Federation countries of the Northern Hemisphere, veal is much more often cooked in restaurants and canteens. European cooks do not use the word "beef" at all. They use parts of cattle carcass used for preparing all kinds of dishes either as “veal” or, in extreme cases, “bull meat”.
Cooking Classification
The words "beef" and "veal" are thus almost synonymous. However, the products corresponding to them are not completely identical. In cooking, cattle meat is classified as follows:
dairy veal - meat obtained from cows and gobies from the age of 2 weeks to 3 months;
young beef - from calves raised on a farm until slaughter from 3 months to 3 years;
actually beef - meat obtained from cattle at the age of 3 years.
Varieties by variety
Among other things, all the beef on the market today is divided into a product:
top grade (marble);
first category;
second category;
skinny.
The most delicious meat
Why is marbled beef so called? The meat of this variety consists not only of muscle tissue itself, but also of many fatty layers. In appearance, it resembles an ornamental stone well-known to many. From here its original name went.
In cooking, marbled beef is considered a delicacy. It is from it that the most delicious and juicy goulash, steaks, etc. are prepared. Some people attribute this product to almost healing. For example, many believe that eating marbled meat reduces the risk of cancer.
How to feed cows to get marbled beef
Farmers sell meat of this category, of course, at a very high price. However, raising cows to get marbled beef is quite complicated. In order for the final product to contain a large number of fatty veins, farmers have to use a special scheme for feeding animals. And this, of course, significantly increases the cost of maintenance.
Streaks are formed in meat due to the fact that cows are given very high-calorie foods at certain periods of time and somewhat restrict their movement without letting go of the stalls.
Breeds of calves for such fattening are selected very carefully. Most often, herefords are grown to produce marbled meat. But sometimes farmers choose calves and other meat breeds for this purpose. Milk cattle for marbled beef, of course, is not used. In Russia, it is beef cattle that are bred quite rarely. Therefore, the marble product on the shelves is not common.
Meat of other varieties
Beef of the first category is primarily very well-developed muscle tissue. The composition of this product includes a fairly large amount of body fat. An exception in this regard can only be the meat of very young gobies and cows.
A distinctive feature of beef of the second grade is that it is not too well developed muscle mass. Fat in the composition of such a product is low. Skinny beef has a very low quality at all. It is used mainly only for industrial purposes.
Use in cooking different parts of the carcass
The answer to the question of why cow meat is called beef is simple. This word comes from the ancient name of the cattle itself. There are many varieties of such a product. But beef can also differ in what part of the carcass it was taken from.
For stewing in cooking can be used, for example:
For cooking, cooks can take:
shoulder blade, rump and flank;
dorsal part, brisket, ribs, drumsticks.
For frying are used:
thin edge;
sacrum;
neck, rims.
Where exactly these parts are located in the carcass, you can see the diagram below.
Eye muscle
In addition to marbled meat, there is another delicious variety of beef. Such a product is cut from the outer part of the back cut. The dishes prepared from it have a crisp and turn out to be very tasty and fragrant.
It is believed that baking and stewing are the best ways to use part of the beef eye muscle. Why is this type of meat called so? Eye muscle - the expression is really unusual and colorful. Something immediately comes to mind, taken from the front of the cow's head. But they call such a delicacy in this way not at all because it has something to do with the eyes of the animal. The shape of such beef is somewhat oblong, oval. From here, in fact, its name went.
Cow meat
Thus, we found out why beef is called beef. This word comes from the ancient govedo and has Indo-European roots. First of all, this is the name, of course, of the product obtained actually from cows and bulls. However, beef can also be considered meat:
And of course there is nothing surprising in this. After all, all these animals are just cattle - in ancient Slavic "beef".