Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Meat Puoltry and Fish
Meat Puoltry and Fish
cattle
Lamb from
young sheep
Plate
Belly, Bacon Flank
Arm Brisket
Spare or Hamburger
Shank
short ribs
When cutting or purchasing Less tender top
Most tender
steaks (T-bones, rib, loin, round
bottom or
round, sirloin, etc.) the larger eye of round
section of meat at the top side
of the bone is less tender. The
smaller eye or bottom section is
A rib eye steak
the most tender.
is VERY
tender.
Hamburger or ground beef is made by
grinding up less tender meat and
scraps of meat and fat. It is sold by
the percentage of lean meat to fat:
85/15 means 85% lean red meat and
15% fat per pound. The lower
percentage of fat means ‘healthier…
but less flavorful’.
When the eye is left
whole and not cut
crosswise into steaks… it
is called the tenderloin.
This is the small but very
best cut of meat. It is also
the most expensive cut.
Tying a roast
with string
ensures even
cooking and
helps keep the
shape of the The term butterfly
meat. means to cut the piece
of meat lengthwise,
nearly in half, so it
Medallions or the opens out and lies flat.
French term This speeds the
Noisettes cooking process.
(nwah-ZET)
refers to small, The term kosher is
usually round, meat or poultry that
boneless and has been slaughtered
tender cuts of to comply with
meat. Jewish dietary laws.
Brains
Liver
Heart Tripe
(stomach lining)
Tongue
Sweetbreads Kidneys
(thymus glands)
The amount of
connective
tissue
increases as
an animal ages
2. ELASTIN is a yellow connective tissue and when the
that will not soften. It must be pounded, animal gets a
cut, or ground to make it chewable. This lot of exercise.
might be done by pounding with a utensil
called a meat tenderizer.
Suppose these arrows represent
long fibers in the meat running in a
horizontal direction…the grain.
If the butcher or
carver cuts the
meat WITH the
grain, the fibers
remain long in each
piece and difficult
to chew.
If you cut ACROSS the grain, however, the long fibers are
cut into short pieces. This makes them easier to chew.
Always carve across the grain for tenderness!
VISIBLE FAT is found under the skin
of the animal, in the belly parts, and
surrounding the large muscle
portions. Cook meat “fat side up” to
allow the flavor to melt down through
the meat while cooking.
MARBLING is the white flecks or
streaks that appear within the
lean meat. Abundant marbling is
associated with tenderness.
USDA A
USDA B
USDA C Fresh poultry has a short
shelf life, but can be frozen.
Factors that determine It should never be gray in
grade are the shape of the color or have a pasty feel,
carcass, ratio of meat to and odor should be minimal.
bone, amount of feathers, Never store uncooked
and number of cuts or stuffing in a raw bird. Cook
broken bones. all poultry thoroughly.
Chicken and turkey have both white and dark
meat. White meat is leaner with a mild flavor.
Ducks and geese have only dark meat,
which is more flavorful but higher in fat. The
part of the bird getting more exercise is
darker, such as the legs and thighs of a
chicken. Free-range poultry is
raised in large yards where the bird can get
more exercise, and there is more dark meat.
Game birds that do more actual
“flying”, have more dark meat.
Wild game might include quail,
pheasant, wild turkey, ducks,
geese or turtledove. Domesticated
birds have far more white meat.
The method used for
cooking poultry depends
on the age of the bird. Young
birds can be cooked in dry
heat, such as grilling, frying,
and roasting.
Chicken is often
dredged in flour
before frying to
form a coating and
seal in juices.
Chicken can be
purchased whole
to save money;
you cut it up
yourself OR you
Deboning poultry means to separate can purchase it
the meat from the bone and cut the already cut up
bird into pieces. Clean work OR purchase just
surfaces and equipment carefully to the pieces you
avoid cross-contamination. want.
The skin on the
poultry is high in
fat content. For that
reason, many
people remove the
skin before eating
the poultry.
In the picture to the
left, the chicken
breast has been
GIBLETS (JIB-lets)are halved, boned, and
the edible poultry skinned.
organs, including the
liver, heart, and
gizzard (a digestive
organ).
Giblets and the neck are often packaged
separately in the cavity of the raw bird;
cooked, and used in the stuffing.
Cooking does not stop
immediately when food is
taken from the heat. This is
called carryover cooking,
and the larger the item the
more heat it will retain.
Oyster
in the
shell
Gently pull off heads. Pull off legs and then peel back shell OR peel
back shell and then remove any remaining legs.
4.
6.
5.
Peel off shell and then Make a shallow slit down Pull out the intestine
remove tail if desired. the back to expose the with your knife,
vein (digestive tract). fingers, or toothpick.
Fish can be cut into
goujonettes (goo-sha-NET)
or small strips OR paupiettes
(pō-peeEHT) thin rolled
fillets filled with stuffing.
Fish may be canned in oil for flavor, or
water to cut calories. It can be preserved by
pickling, smoking, curing or drying. Lox is
a fish that is smoked and cured, and
commonly served with bagels.
Fish is very tender. It should be
cooked until it flakes easily and is
opaque in color. All cooking methods
can be used… grilling, frying, and
deep fat frying, boiling, steaming, etc.
En papillote
(en paw-pee-YOTE)
is a moist-heat
cooking method, well
suited for fish. The
fish, vegetables,
herbs, etc. are
encased in parchment Seafood Newburg is lobster, crab, or
paper and baked, or shrimp in a rich sauce made from butter,
steamed in foil. cream, egg yolks, sherry, and seasonings.
Jambalaya
(jam-bo-LIE-ah) is
a Creole stew
made from rice or
pasta, shellfish,
and vegetables.