Thoughts on corned beef ; Satan's dung or wholesome old fashioned f ayre??

[moondog]

Am at veritable culinary crossroads....

Is this the right thread to contribute my dad's 50 year old "recipe" for corned beef curry, of Navy origin then (includes Sharwoods Vindaloo paste, sultanas, onions, apples and baked beans...)
I love the stuff, purely for its nostalgia value - Saturday tea after swimming.
And corned beef hash is excellent camping/outdoor eating.

Just noticed AB said it is different here than in the UK. I wonder what the difference is? Here it is beef that is first pickled in brine and then cooked by simmering. Usually, cuts of meat are used that feature long muscle grain, such as the brisket.

my grandma used to make very fried rissoles out of cornedbeef though that used to make me barf

jabberwocky - love the Reuben sandwiches. It's the cut of meat that is used here. It's proper beef, rather than in the Uk, something which looks as though its pressed together with oats and salt and whatever else. Tastes sublime here. But most meat does have to say.

o think i need to make corned beef hash

i lived in france for a year and offended all and sundry there by refusing to taste the local delicacy - the town was sainte menehould - see here

Anyone else had Spam fritters and fried tomatoes. Used to be Sunday evening fayre with my Nan

It is actually really excellent sally. Mum was always curiously absent from these occasions as her digestive system was unable to cope. At all

( at "4 trotters, hair singed with a blowtorch and rinsed")

Avalou - I called my MIL about "corned beef alley". When she was a girl the houses in my road had just been built and it was said that the people who bought them had ideas above their station buying in such a nice road and struggled to pay their mortgages and consequently their bins were full of corned beef tins because it was cheap. Bit of jealousy creeping in I think on behalf of those living in the old Victorian terraces and living in two rooms.

I do love an old wives tale!

i am going to put corned beef hash on next week's menu
mmmm

Oh, I see, now. I found a recipe for making your own corned beef, if anyone is interested.

The beef brisket will take about 3 weeks to cure. You can also use bottom round roast in place of brisket, if you wish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 quarts water
• 1 cup salt
• 1 teaspoon saltpeter (see note 1 below)
• 2 beef briskets, about 4 pounds each (see note 2 below)
• 12 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons pickling spices
• 8 bay leaves

PREPARATION:
Boil water. Add salt and saltpeter, stir to dissolve and set aside to cool. Place brisket in a large crock, zipper-style plastic bag or other non-metallic container.

Pour salt water over meat and add garlic, pickling spices and bay leaves. Meat should be submerged; use a weighted jar to hold meat under pickling solution. Refrigerate or set in a cool place for 3 weeks. Drain and remove bay leaves before cooking.

Note 1: Saltpeter is known commercially as potassium nitrate and is used to give the meat a pink coloring.

Note 2: Bottom round roasts may be substituted for the brisket for a leaner corned beef.

My DH thinks corned beef is a Northern dish, ie north of Torquay. Is this information correct?? (main topic of conversation in our house now)

Just remembered I had some cold potatoes in the fridge, so went & cooked some up! I make my hash by mashing the potatoes & corned beef together so it's smooth & then frying it till it's crispy & golden - not all lumpy like Delia's.

Toady - my dad lives south of Torquay (Chillington, near Kingsbridge) & he loves corned beef!

lol at this thread! I was wondering the same thing myself a couple of days ago, when I was trying to explain Spam to my colleagues, and realised that my children will grow up thinking that Spam is undesirable emails!

I wondered if I should feed my children Spam and corned beef, just so they know what it tastes like.

moondog, you'd love it in Ba va ria - leberkase is a sort of G erman spam, and weisswurst is as unlike food as anything edible could possibly be.

Fisty,I can't believe that Germans could produce shite sausage products.
They know their meat surely?!

What Americans call Corned Beef is generally called Salt Beef in the UK. It's basically pickled boiled beef and is utterly divine sliced thinly in a sandwich with tomatoes, cooked cabbage and thinly sliced pickled veg. Mmmmm my mouth is watering.

For the benefit of the Americans here, British Corned Beef is a mixture of chopped cooked beef and fat, plus some preserving spices, all pressed tightly into a tin and cooked at very high temperatures so that it all gels into a firm but not hard mass. It's much blander than Salt Beef - but still very tasty (though I'm sure that's a matter of debate ). Difficult to describe the taste...a richer, creamier, beefy version of Spam maybe, without the jellyness.

Isn't that salt beef a real Jewish thing?
Always fantasise about visiting a Kosher deli in NYC and tucking in.

oo dont get us Brits in Germany started on wurst!

The meat here is very good, but expensive. Animals seem to produce a larger amount of offal than in the UK, because there seem to be more offal-based products! There is less pet food in the supermarkets though I think (fewer pets?), so draw your own conclusions...
Sadly, the sausages are just NOT LIKE ENGLISH ones though. I am now getting used to bratwurst, and can enjoy it with mash and sauerkraut, but I cant persuade the children.
Weisswurst is white and has a sort of gelatinous texture. Its appeal cannot be understood unless you were born in Bav aria, I suspect. Birthdays at work are frequently celebrated with a crate of Augustinerbrau, a hot pan of weisswurst and bretzln. Its a mystery why they're all so healthy.

Fortunately, Ive found a supermarket that sells merguez, so we are happy

weisswurst god that stuff is revolting.
they seemed to serve it every single day I was over there.
you think - oh staying at someone's house! how lovely! so much nicer than a hotel.
then someone serves up weisswurst, which I can only presume comes from the inside of cow's knees or something...

Corned Beef [gag emoticon] ... I'd rather eat poo. Well, not quite but ...
Salt beef (as in Jewish deli sandwich) - yum scrum - nothing like corned beef.