50 Fun Facts About Meat

Which meat was the most produced in the world in 2023, at about 34% of global output?

Chicken production has more than doubled since 2000; pigs come a close second, also around a third of the total.

Which pigment gives red meat its colour and turns brown when it oxidises?

Red meat is defined by nutritionists as meat from mammals, including pork — which does not always look red.

What is the name of the process, involving amino acids and sugars, that browns a seared steak?

Louis Camille Maillard described it in 1912; it takes off at around 140-165°C.

What is 'marbling' in a cut of beef?

Even 3-7% marbling improves juiciness and tenderness, though it contributes only about 5% of overall palatability.

Which of the four Wagyu breeds is actually responsible for the famous rich marbling?

It makes up around 90% of Japan's Wagyu; the Tajima strain of it produces Kobe beef.

In which Japanese prefecture must cattle be raised to qualify as Kobe beef?

Only the Tajima strain of Japanese Black qualifies, under rules from the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association.

What is the most tender cut of beef?

Filet mignon and chateaubriand both come from it; skirt and flank count as steaks only because they are thin and grilled.

How is dry-aged beef produced?

Only higher grades with plenty of evenly spread fat can be dry-aged.

Which cut of the pig is 'streaky' bacon made from?

Most bacon eaten in the UK and Ireland is back bacon, from the loin.

What are the only ingredients permitted in Prosciutto di Parma?

Curing can take from nine months to three years depending on the size of the ham.

The finest jamón ibérico is labelled 'de bellota'. What have the pigs eaten?

It must come from pure Black Iberian pigs or crosses at least 50% Black Iberian with Duroc.

Bresaola, the air-dried salted beef, originated in which region of Italy?

It comes from Valtellina, an Alpine valley, and turns almost purple after two or three months' aging.

What gives Spanish chorizo its deep red colour and smokiness?

Mexican chorizo uses chili peppers instead of paprika.

What must mortadella contain at least 15% of, by rule?

The best-known version is mortadella Bologna PGI, sometimes studded with pistachios or myrtle berries.

Pastrami originated in the Jewish community of which country?

The word probably passed from Turkish pastirma via Romanian pastramă into Yiddish.

Where does the word 'corned' in corned beef come from?

Commonwealth countries just call it salt beef; tinned corned beef was a military ration for centuries.

The word 'jerky' comes from which language?

Ch'arki means dried, salted meat; South Africa's biltong is air-dried rather than heated.

How does biltong differ from jerky in its production?

Jerky is heated to at least 71°C; biltong originated in Southern Africa.

What is the traditional casing for haggis?

Inside is sheep's pluck — heart, liver and lungs — with oatmeal, suet and onion.

Why has it been illegal to import haggis from the UK into the US since 1971?

Lung makes up 10-15% of the traditional recipe; the 1989 BSE beef-and-lamb ban complicated things further.

What is black pudding made from?

The high proportion of oatmeal or barley groats sets it apart from other blood sausages.

By French law, foie gras must be the liver of a duck or goose fattened by what method?

The technique dates back to about 2500 BC in ancient Egypt.

What is Spam made from?

Hormel launched it in 1937 partly to sell more pork shoulder, a cut that did not move.

In which year did Hormel introduce Spam?

Wartime use spread it worldwide, and a Monty Python sketch gave its name to junk email.

The word 'frankfurter' comes from Frankfurt, but 'wiener' refers to which city?

Vienna's sausage mixed pork and beef; Frankfurter Würstchen date to the 13th century.

In which German city is bratwurst first documented, in 1313?

The name comes from Old High German brät, finely chopped meat, plus Wurst.

How is a döner kebab cooked?

Shawarma, gyros and Mexican al pastor all derive from the Ottoman-era technique.

What is a turducken?

The English version with goose is called a gooducken.

What are Rocky Mountain oysters?

They are usually skinned, floured and deep-fried.

Which glands are served as 'sweetbreads'?

Usually from calf or lamb; the French call it ris de veau.

What is veal?

Most comes from young male dairy calves not needed for breeding.

What is meat from a sheep in its second year called?

Lamb is first-year, mutton is older; 'mutton' comes from French mouton.

Roughly what is the fat content of kangaroo meat?

Australia exports it to more than 60 markets; it is about 23% protein.

Which country was the world's largest beef exporter as of 2020?

Australia, the US, India and Argentina followed.

Who created the first cultured (lab-grown) beef burger patty in 2013?

He worked at Maastricht University; the first commercial sale of cultured meat came in Singapore in December 2020.

In which country was cell-cultured meat first sold commercially, in December 2020?

The restaurant was 1880 in Singapore.

The Cree word behind 'pemmican' means what?

Fur traders and polar explorers such as Shackleton relied on the tallow-and-dried-meat mixture.

Which two religions most notably prohibit eating pork?

Seventh-day Adventists, Rastafarians and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians also avoid it.

What is the traditional Scottish accompaniment to haggis?

Boiled turnip and potato, plus a dram of whisky, especially at a Burns supper.

What is salami, technically?

Small ones are salametti; the English word is the Italian plural of salame.

During which period did meatloaf become a way for American families to stretch their food budgets?

Cheap meat plus leftovers; Poland's version hides a hard-boiled egg inside.

Roast suckling pig, cochinillo asado, is a speciality of which Spanish city?

Segovia's restaurants famously carve it with the edge of a plate.

Which wild ancestor of domestic cattle was hunted by Neanderthals and painted at Lascaux?

Cattle were later domesticated for a ready supply of meat, milk and labour, and hundreds of breeds followed.

Canadian-style back bacon is a lean cut from the eye of which part of the pig?

Peameal bacon is the unsmoked, wet-cured version of the same cut, and in Canada plain 'bacon' usually means side bacon instead.

Where does beef rank among the world's most widely consumed meats?

It accounts for roughly a quarter of global meat production, behind pork and poultry.

By what other name is Scotland's square breakfast banger known?

Produced as a rectangular block and sliced into portions, it is seasoned mainly with pepper and rarely seen outside Scotland.

The word 'bacon' comes from a Proto-Germanic root meaning what?

In Middle English, bacon or bacoun referred to all pork in general.

Canadian peameal, an unsmoked, wet-cured pork product from Ontario, is coated in what?

Historically it was rolled in ground dried peas, which is where the name comes from.

Ancient Italy's most famous sausage, lucanica, came from Lucania, which is now which region?

The name lives on in Greek loukaniko and in modern Lucanica di Picerno.

Which Aristophanes comedy is about a sausage vendor who is elected leader?

Homer had already mentioned a kind of blood sausage in the Odyssey, and Epicharmus wrote a comedy called The Sausage.