Brisket
Encyclopedia
According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language
Random House Dictionary of the English Language
Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary is a large American dictionary, first published in 1966 as The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged....
, Second Edition, the term derives from the Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
"brusket" which comes from the earlier Old Norse "brjósk", meaning cartilage
Cartilage
Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs...
. The cut overlies the sternum, ribs and connecting costal cartilages.
Method of cooking
Brisket can be cooked many ways. Slow and moist cooking methods are common to all.Popular methods in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
include rubbing with a spice rub
Spice rub
Spice rub is any mixture of ground spices that is made for the purpose of being rubbed on raw food before the food is cooked. The spice rub forms a coat on the food. The food can be marinated in the spice rub for some time for the flavors to incorporate into the food or it can be cooked...
or marinating
Marination
Marination is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origins of the word allude to the use of brine in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor by immersion in liquid...
the meat, then cooking slowly over indirect heat from charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
or wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
. This is a form of smoking the meat. Additional basting
Basting (cooking)
Basting is a cooking technique that involves cooking meat with either its own juices or some type of preparation such as a sauce or marinade. The meat is left to cook, then periodically coated with the juice....
of the meat is often done during the cooking process. This normally tough cut of meat, due to the collagen
Collagen
Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, especially in the flesh and connective tissues of mammals. It is the main component of connective tissue, and is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content...
fibers that make up the significant connective tissue in the cut, is tenderized when the collagen gelatinizes, resulting in more tender brisket, despite the fact that the cut is usually cooked well beyond what would normally be considered "well done". The fat cap often left attached to the brisket helps to keep the meat from over-drying during the prolonged cooking necessary to break down the connective tissue in the meat. Water is necessary for the conversion of collagen to gelatin.
A hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
, such as oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
, hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
, or mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...
, is sometimes added, alone or in combination with other hardwoods, to the main heat source. Sometimes, they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor.
The finished meat is a variety of barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
. Smoked brisket done this way is most popular in Texas barbecue.
Once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends
Burnt ends
Burnt ends are flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket. A traditional part of Kansas City Barbecue, burnt ends are considered a delicacy in barbecue cooking. Either the entire brisket is cooked whole, then the point end removed and cooked further, or the point and...
. Burnt ends are most popular in Kansas City-style barbecue
Kansas City-style barbecue
Kansas City barbecue refers to the specific style of slow smoked meat that evolved from the pit of Henry Perry in the early 1900s in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City barbecue is slow smoked over a variety of woods and then covered with a thick tomato and molasses based sauce.The Kansas City...
, where they are traditionally served open-faced on white bread.
In the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the whole boneless brisket, based on the Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications (IMPS), as promulgated by the USDA
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, has the meat-cutting classification IMPS 120. The North American Meat Processors Association
North American Meat Processors Association
The North American Meat Processors Association is an industry group for meat processors, packers, and distributors. It is a nonprofit, membership-based group with significant presence in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Its Executive Director is Phil Kimball...
publishes a photographic version of IMPS called the Meat Buyer's Guide. The brisket muscles are sometimes separated for retail cutting: the lean "first cut" or "flat cut" is the deep pectoral, while the fattier "second cut", "point", "fat end", or "triangular cut" is the superficial pectoral). For food service use, they are IMPS 120A and 120B, respectively.
Other variations
In traditional Jewish cooking, brisket is most often braised as a pot roastPot roast (beef)
Pot roast is a braised beef dish. Pot roast is typically made by browning a roast-sized piece of beef to induce a Maillard reaction, then slow-cooking in or over liquid in a covered dish....
, especially as a holiday main course, usually served at Rosh Hashannah, Passover, and Shabbat. For reasons of economics and Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
, it was historically one of the more popular cuts of beef among Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
.
In Hong Kong, it is cooked with spices over low heat until tender, and is commonly served with noodles in soup
Beef noodle soup
Beef noodle soup is a Chinese noodle soup made of stewed beef, beef broth, vegetables and Chinese noodles. It exists in various forms throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia. It was created by the Hui people during the Tang Dynasty of China.In the West, this food may be served in a small portion...
or curry.
In Korean cuisine, it is commonly cooked for a short period of time and eaten in thin slices.
In Thai cuisine, it is used to prepare suea rong hai, a popular grilled dish originally from Isan
Isan
Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
.
It is a common cut of meat for use in Vietnamese phở
PHO
PHO may refer to:* Primary Health Organisation* Potentially hazardous object, an asteroid or comet that could potentially collide with Earth...
soup.
Brisket is also the most popular cut for corned beef
Corned beef
Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef products present in many beef-eating cultures. The English term is used interchangeably in modernity to refer to three distinct types of cured beef:...
, which can be further spiced and smoked to make pastrami
Pastrami
Pastrami , is a popular delicatessen meat usually made from beef and, traditionally in Romania, also from pork and mutton. In Israel, "Pastrama" is the term used for sliced chicken and turkey. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration...
.
In Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it is not generally smoked, but is one of a number of low cost cuts normally cooked very slowly in a lidded casserole dish with gravy. The dish, known as a pot roast, is often accompanied by root vegetables. Good results may also be achieved in a slow cooker. Cooked brisket, being boneless, carves well after refrigeration, and is a versatile cheaper cut.
In Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
, brisket is known as suadero
Suadero
Suadero, in Mexican cuisine, is a thin cut of beef from the brisket . Suadero is noted for having a smooth texture rather than a muscle grain. Typically, suadero is grilled and used as a taco filling....
and it is commonly slowly cooked in a circular pan in taco stands all over the country.