70 Fun Facts About Beef

The English word 'beef' ultimately comes from which Latin word?

It arrived via Old French, which is why the animal is Germanic 'cow' but the meat is Latinate 'beef'.

What is the rarely used plural of the word 'beef'?

It survives mostly in old cattle-trade writing and as a favourite of crossword setters.

Which extinct wild ox, hunted by Neanderthals, is the ancestor of modern domestic cattle?

The last known one died in Poland around 1627, long after cattle had spread worldwide.

Roughly how many years ago did the first domestication of cattle (Bos taurus) take place?

A second, separate domestication about 7,000 years ago produced the humped zebu, Bos indicus.

Which country was the world's largest beef producer in 2018, at about 12.2 million tons?

Brazil was second at 9.9 million tons and China third at 6.46 million.

Beef ranks where among the most widely consumed meats in the world?

Pork and poultry both outrank it, and beef makes up about a quarter of global meat production.

Which country was the top beef exporter in 2019, with 14.8% of the total?

The United States was a close second at 13.4%.

Cattle graze roughly what share of all the land on Earth?

That footprint is a big reason beef has the highest emissions intensity of any agricultural commodity.

In Sanskrit, cow beef, forbidden in Hinduism, is known by what word?

Cow slaughter is banned by law in several Indian states and in Nepal.

Which country had the most cattle in 2023, with about 307 million head?

That was roughly a third of the world's cattle, though most are never raised for beef.

A cow's stomach has how many compartments?

The rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum let cattle digest grass that humans cannot.

Cattle trained to work as draft animals are called what?

Any breed can be trained; the word describes the job, not the animal.

Roughly how long is a cow's gestation period?

It is close to a human pregnancy, which is why calving is planned around a yearly cycle.

Which primal cut is the usual source of barbecue, corned beef and pastrami?

It comes from the animal's chest, a hard-working muscle that needs long, slow cooking.

T-bone and porterhouse steaks are cut from which primal?

The bone separates a strip steak on one side from a piece of tenderloin on the other.

Filet mignon is cut from which part of the animal?

It is the most tender cut because that muscle does almost no work.

Which primal cut is used mostly for grinding, apart from one long, flat steak that shares its name?

That flat steak is a favourite for London broil and fajitas because it takes marinades well.

As a rule, beef gets more tender the farther it is from what?

Legs and neck do the most work, so shank and chuck are tough while loin is tender.

Prime rib and rib eye steaks come from which primal?

It also supplies part of the short ribs.

In USDA grading, which grade denotes beef of the highest quality with heavy marbling?

Only a small share of US beef makes the top grade, and much of it goes to restaurants.

The word 'steak' comes from an Old Norse word meaning what?

It entered English from Scandinavian in the mid-15th century.

Which 1827 New York restaurant has been called 'the most famous steak restaurant in American history'?

It stayed open for almost a century and gave its name to the Delmonico steak.

Which South American country, home of the asado, has one of the highest per-capita beef consumptions in the world?

Asado is considered a national dish and typically features grilled steak.

Châteaubriand corresponds to which portion of a porterhouse steak?

It is traditionally a thick centre cut carved for two people.

Which dish is made from raw minced beef?

It is usually served with a raw egg yolk, capers and onions.

The word 'wagyu' literally means what?

It is the collective name for four Japanese breeds rather than one.

Which breed makes up over 97% of the beef cattle in Japan?

Its fat is unusually rich in monounsaturated oleic acid, which lowers the melting point of the marbling.

In the Japanese grading system, which grade marks the highest quality beef?

Letters grade the yield and numbers the quality, giving 15 possible combinations.

Kobe beef must come from cattle raised in which Japanese prefecture?

Only about 3,000 head a year meet the strict criteria, including a marbling score of 6 or better.

Kobe beef was first exported abroad in 2012, to which destination?

Hong Kong followed in July that year; before 2012 it could only be eaten in Japan.

Which Wagyu brand from Shiga Prefecture has a history of about 400 years?

It is often counted with Kobe and Matsusaka as one of Japan's three great beefs.

The last known wild ancestor of domestic cattle died around 1627 in which country?

It died in the forests of Mazovia, and a memorial stone now marks the spot at Jaktorów.

The Aberdeen Angus breed developed in the north-east of which country?

William McCombie of Tillyfour began improving the stock in 1824 and is called the father of the breed.

Angus cattle are 'naturally polled', meaning they are born without what?

They come in solid black or red, and the American Angus Association dates from 1883.

Corned beef gets its name from what?

Nothing to do with maize; 'corn' was simply an old word for any small hard grain.

Which sandwich pairs corned beef with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on grilled rye?

Irish immigrants in New York often bought their corned beef from Jewish butchers, which is how the deli link began.

The Frigorífico Anglo plant in Fray Bentos, source of wartime corned beef, is in which country?

The plant exported over 16 million cans in 1943 alone and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the British military, finely minced canned corned meat was known as what?

'Bully' is thought to be a corruption of the French bouilli, meaning boiled.

Beef Wellington is a beef fillet wrapped in puff pastry with which mushroom mixture?

A recipe for Filet à la Wellington appears in an Austrian cookbook as early as 1891.

Beef Wellington is presumed to be named after a duke famous for winning which battle?

The link to Arthur Wellesley is unproven; it may be a patriotic rebranding of the French filet de bœuf en croûte.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is better known by what name?

It is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion rather than a virus or bacterium.

The first confirmed case of BSE occurred in 1986 in which country?

More than 184,000 British cattle were diagnosed between 1986 and 2015, with new cases peaking in 1993.

Cattle are believed to have caught BSE from being fed what?

The feed contained remains of infected cattle, recycling the prion through the herd.

The hamburger takes its name from a city in which country?

Hamburg steak was a minced patty served without a bun; Americans added the bread.

Hamburgers gained national recognition in the US at a World's Fair held in which city in 1904?

Ice cream cones and iced tea are also often credited to the same fair.

White Castle, generally counted as the first fast-food hamburger chain, opened in 1921 in which city?

Its tiny square sliders sold for five cents each.

The USDA recommends cooking hamburgers to what internal temperature?

Grinding spreads any surface bacteria through the meat, which is why burgers need a higher temperature than steaks.

Who created the Big Mac, first sold at his McDonald's franchise in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1967?

It went on the menu of every US McDonald's the following year.

Which publication uses the Big Mac Index to compare the cost of living between countries?

It has run since 1986 as a light-hearted guide to whether currencies are over- or undervalued.

Which actress asked 'Where's the beef?' in the famous 1984 Wendy's commercial?

Walter Mondale borrowed the line to needle Gary Hart in a presidential debate the same year.

Which 1984 presidential hopeful turned 'Where's the beef?' against rival Gary Hart in a debate?

The jab helped him win the Democratic nomination, though he lost badly in November.

American pastrami is most commonly made from which cut?

The meat is brined, dried, spiced, smoked and finally steamed before slicing.

The name 'pastrami' probably comes from a word in which language?

Jewish immigrants from Bessarabia and Romania brought it to New York in the late 19th century.

What kind of business did cheesesteak inventors Pat and Harry Olivieri originally run?

Cheese was not added until 1951, by a manager nicknamed 'Cocky Joe' Lorenza.

A 1986 New York Times article called which product 'the sine qua non of cheesesteak connoisseurs'?

Purists still argue for provolone, but the processed sauce remains the Philadelphia default.

The word 'jerky' derives from a word meaning 'dried, salted meat' in which language?

South Africa's biltong is a cousin, cured with vinegar and cut across the grain rather than along it.

Why must most fat be trimmed from meat before it is dried into jerky?

Lean, trimmed strips can keep for months without refrigeration.

'Les rosbifs' is a French nickname for the people of which country?

It reflects roast beef's status as an English national dish, celebrated in a 1731 ballad.

Which side dish is the traditional partner to English roast beef?

It began as a way to catch dripping under the joint as it roasted.

'Beef on weck', a roast beef sandwich on a salted caraway roll, is a tradition of which region?

It has been served around Buffalo since the late 1800s.

Beef Stroganoff, sautéed beef in a mustard and sour cream sauce, comes from which country?

The first known recipe appears in the 1871 edition of Elena Molokhovets's cookbook A Gift to Young Housewives.

The Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London are popularly known by what beefy nickname?

One theory traces the name to the large daily ration of beef they were given at court.

Bulgogi, the Korean dish of thin marinated beef slices, literally means what?

It is grilled on a barbecue or a stove-top griddle rather than stewed.

Phở bò, the beef version of Vietnam's noodle soup, emerged in the early 1900s in which part of the country?

One theory links its name to the French beef stew pot-au-feu.

What does the French cooking term 'sous-vide' literally mean?

Beef is sealed in a bag and cooked in a precisely controlled water bath, sometimes for as long as 72 hours, at far lower temperatures than usual.

In fondue bourguignonne, diners cook small pieces of beef at the table by dipping them into what?

It is a cousin of the Japanese hot pot shabu-shabu, where thin slices are swished through hot stock; both come with dipping sauces.

For how long do premium steakhouses typically dry-age their beef?

Primals hang in humidity-controlled coolers; evaporation concentrates flavour and surface moulds add a nutty note, though most tenderising happens in the first 10 days.

Bresaola, the air-dried salted beef, originated in the Valtellina valley of which Italian region?

Aged for two to three months until dark red, almost purple, it has a Swiss cousin just over the Alps called Bündnerfleisch.

How many servings of red meat per week does the World Cancer Research Fund recommend as a maximum?

The IARC rates unprocessed red meat as a probable carcinogen and found 'convincing' evidence that processed meat causes cancer.

Which ancient priesthood is recorded as refraining from beef for religious reasons?

Most Indic religions also reject killing cows; Buddhists and Sikhs oppose wrongful slaughter but have no doctrine against eating.