Corned beef
Corned beef is beef preserved by curing it with salt, usually in brine and often with spices. It is commonly cooked slowly or canned.
Curing (food preservation): Curing preserves food with salt, sugar, smoke, or other agents that inhibit spoilage. Salt is the defining preservative in corned beef.
Salt-cured beef: Salt-cured beef is beef preserved through direct application of salt or immersion in a concentrated salt solution. Corned beef belongs to this older family of preserved meats.
Corned beef and cabbage: Corned beef and cabbage is a dish of simmered cured beef served with cabbage and often other vegetables. This combination is a prominent Irish-American way to serve corned beef.
Bresaola: Bresaola is air-dried, salted beef from northern Italy, usually eaten uncooked in thin slices. Unlike corned beef, it is dried rather than cooked after a wet cure.
Brining: Brining immerses food in a salt solution to season it and alter its moisture and texture. Most corned beef is cured by soaking beef in seasoned salt water.
Celtic salt trade: The Celtic salt trade connected prehistoric and ancient communities that produced and exchanged salt. Salt production and trade helped establish beef-curing traditions in parts of Europe.
Reuben sandwich: The Reuben is a grilled sandwich typically filled with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian or Thousand Island dressing. It turns sliced corned beef into a hot sandwich with contrasting savory and sour flavors.
Salt beef: Salt beef is beef preserved by salting, often associated with British and Caribbean cuisines. The names overlap, but salt beef often has a simpler cure and distinct regional preparations.
Sodium nitrite: Sodium nitrite is a compound used in cured meats to inhibit bacteria and maintain a characteristic pink color. It gives many corned beef recipes their pink color and adds protection against botulism.
Irish diaspora: The Irish diaspora comprises communities formed by migration from Ireland, especially during the nineteenth century. Irish immigrants in the United States helped make corned beef part of Irish-American food traditions.