WHAT IS A CHICKEN KIDNEY? Also known as an organ meat or offal, their digestive system is a bit different then ours. Chickens don’t have bladders, so any urine produced by the bird’s kidney is excreted by the animal along with the rest of its fecal matter. While rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids and […]
Archaeology of Meat
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – gizzard (chicken)
WHAT IS A CHICKEN GIZZARD? This muscle is the reason why bird’s don’t need teeth to chew their food! Named after the Latin word for giblets, they aid in the digestion process. The gizzard grinds food much like a millstone grinds wheat into flour. This is also the reason chicken’s will swallow inedible objects like […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – feet (chicken)
WHAT ARE CHICKEN FEET? While this might seem like a dish only served during times of famine in the West, in parts of the deep South or Asia it’s a delicacy. Consisting mostly of tough, stringy connective tissue the feet of the bird do not have the juicy succulence of the drumstick or the breast. And […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – heart (chicken)
WHAT IS A CHICKEN HEART? This muscle while smaller in size beats up to 4 times faster then a normal human heart. It has 4 chambers much like a human heart with smoother ventricles to minimize friction under the higher pressure. While this bird’s heart is technically not considered offal, it’s labeled as such. Offal is defined […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – tomahawk steak (beef)
WHAT IS A TOMAHAWK STEAK? The tomahawk is a ribeye beef steak with the perfect mix of marbling, texture and flavor. But the rib bone is cut 5 inches longer then normal giving it an “axe-like” appearance. The extra bone is “Frenched” a.k.a. all of the meat is cleaned off the bone same as you […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – flat iron steak (beef)
WHAT IS A FLAT IRON STEAK? This cut has many names including a boneless top chuck, a book steak, a butler steak or a top blade steak. This is the 2nd most tender cut on the cow due to the connective tissue being removed as it’s cut. Some butcher remove the sinew that runs through […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – hangar steak (beef)
WHAT IS A HANGAR STEAK? Known as onglet in France, skirt in the UK or lombatello in Italy, the hanger steak is considered one of the most delicious steak cuts around. It’s scarcity makes it makes it hard to find outside of expensive steak houses. Even among butchers it’s a tough sell, both because it’s […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – filet mignon (beef)
WHAT IS A FILET MIGNON? The file mignon is one of the most expensive cuts on the cow. Because of its small medallion shape, the French named this cut “mignon” a.k.a. small or dainty. It’s the most tender and one of the smallest parts of the tenderloin. Accounting for only about 2% of the entire […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – tri tip (beef)
WHAT IS A TRI TIP? Tri tip is also known as a California cut, Newport or Santa Maria steak. It’s a triangular shaped sub-primal cut that comes from the tri-tip roast. It’s both one of the more flavorful and less expensive cuts giving the most value for the money. Furthermore this lean cut has decent […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – drumstick (chicken)
WHAT IS A DRUMSTICK? A drumstick is a term for the calves of any bird, though the term is only applied to edible fowl. A dark meat cut, the muscles here are actually different then the upper body white meat portions. The legs are used much more frequently and for longer periods of time then […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – t-bone steak (beef)
WHAT IS A T-BONE? A t-bone steak is cut from the muscle attached to the spinal vertebrae of the cow between the rib cage and pelvis. The bone attached to this muscle when cross cut (with a saw) has a t-shape giving rise to its name. But it’s actually two delicious yet different steaks in […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – striploin steak (beef)
WHAT IS A STRIPLOIN STEAK? This cut is also known as a NY strip, sirloin, and NY roast. In France where cuts can be a little different, this is called a contre-filet. They are a boneless cut from the short loin of the cow, yielding a great balance between flavor and tenderness. These steaks like […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – New York strip steak (beef)
WHAT IS A N.Y. STRIP? This cut is known by many other names including strip loin, Kansas City strip, Omaha strip or ambassador steak. A favorite among food professionals, it’s a sub-primal cut taken from loin primal cut. The cut is about a foot long and yields about a dozen steaks. There is a trade-off […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – short ribs (beef)
WHAT ARE SHORT RIBS? A sub-section of ribs in general, short ribs are the ends of the ribs that are closest to the breastbone. They are called “short” because the long rib is chopped up into “shorter” pieces, each about the size of your hand. Basically there is a muscle that is well marbled and […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – prime rib steak (beef)
WHAT IS A PRIME RIB? The primal rib is the first part of the cow removed in the butchering process, and the meat attached to it in turn is called a prime rib. However it’s also known by several other names. It can be called a standing rib roast because the meat is cooked “standing” […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – pot roast (beef)
WHAT IS A POT ROAST? This classic New England recipe actually has French roots. Before becoming pot roast it was known in France as Boeuf à la Mode (beef in a modern fashion), A frugal recipe that uses the cheaper cuts of meat which are then slow cooked. This allows the collagen to break down […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – hot dog
WHAT IS A HOT DOG? Inside a hot dog almost nothing is off limits. Pigs, chickens, turkeys, organ meats or raw skeletal muscle are all acceptable ingredients. All of these trimmings are ground to a fine paste. They are then stuffed into a casing (either from cellulose or animal intestines) and vacuum sealed to preserve […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – porterhouse steak (beef)
WHAT IS A PORTERHOUSE STEAK? A member of the t-bone family of steaks, this area of the backbone is home to some of the most delicious flavors. One side of the bone has meat that is tender and almost creamy. On the other side you have a firmer, more flavorful cut. Served together, you’ve got […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – outside round steak (cow)
WHAT IS AN OUTSIDE ROUND STEAK? This sub-primal cut (larger then a steak and smaller then a side of beef) is a lean and inexpensive cut from the butt and hind legs of a cow. It’s also known as a bottom round, Western Griller or rump steak. If you’ve bought roast beef at a store, […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEAT – Iberico Ham (pork)
WHAT IS JAMON IBERICO? Also known as Iberian (southwestern Spain) ham, Jamon Iberico is exclusively from the native black pig. They’re a primitive breed, distinctive for having little hair and hooves that are actually black. With a much larger amount of fat both over and running through the muscles, they are cured for much longer […]
