had a very general meaning, more or less equivalent to food, in early medieval times. So did the equivalent French word, viande; the first French cookery book, Le Viandier, was not so named because of any emphasis on animal flesh. ‘White meats’, in medieval English, were dairy products such as milk and cheese. Gradually, however, the meaning of ‘meat’ became more restricted until, with the exception of a few terms and phrases such as ‘sweetmeat’ and ‘meat and drink’, it came to refer solely to the flesh of animals used as food.
Most often, the word applies to the skeletal muscle of mammals; it would not include offal (although many ‘meat products’ may contain offal). Of the several dozen mammals used for food on a regular basis, those yielding beef, veal, pork, and lamb are dominant in the western world, while water-buffalo has importance in Asia and goat retains some importance in the numerous parts of the world where goats thrive.
A piece of meat is central to the definition of a proper meal for most Europeans and N. Americans. And it is an important source of high-quality protein in their diet. It supplies many of the amino acids required by the human body for good health. It is also a good source of iron (see minerals), vitamin A, and some B vitamins (see vitamins).
A less desirable component of the diet which is also supplied by meat is fat, especially saturated fatty acids (see fats and oils), present in relatively high proportions in red meats. Neither cutting visible fat off the meat nor breeding very lean animals are entirely satisfactory responses, since the fat makes a valuable contribution to flavour and texture. The answer would seem to be to eat less meat generally.
The vegetarian movement points out that there is no necessity for meat in human diet, as all the nutrients which it provides can be obtained from other sources. The arguments that killing for food is morally wrong and that raising food animals is a prodigal and wasteful way to use land are both frequently advanced; objections are also raised to modern methods of intensive animal husbandry. Yet people continue to eat meat; frequently in wealthy countries, and whenever they can in poorer ones. Meat on the plate is often an indication of status and wealth. Also, most people enjoy the taste and texture, so some meat substitutes, such as textured vegetable proteins (see protein), are textured and flavoured in ways which attempt to imitate meat (see also protein and human history for the consequences of a higher-protein diet).
Meat, more than any other food, is hedged around with taboos and notions of uncleanliness. Meat-eating peoples display puzzling anomalies over which species they consider ‘clean’. There are no clear reasons why one animal should be perfectly acceptable food in one culture and not at all in another. Ancient ethnic and religious divisions, and the special hygiene problems provided by handling meat, have been suggested. The meat taboos best known to Europeans are the Jewish and Muslim prohibitions on pork and blood, and the Hindu prohibition on beef. The British find the idea of eating horsemeat distasteful, although it is used in much of continental Europe. Few Europeans would consider eating dog except under the most extreme circumstances; yet dog meat is consumed in parts of China and was an important source of protein in ancient Mexico. Amphibians and reptiles, such as frog, lizard, and snake, are eaten in some areas. Animals which have a carnivorous diet are not generally considered suitable for food, and the meat of uncastrated adult male animals is often shunned. The strongest prohibition is that on cannibalism, the consumption of human flesh.
The ‘moral debate’ referred to above has helped to precipitate lively discussions about the diet of early ancestors of humans, in an effort to establish what humans ‘naturally eat’. These discussions seem unlikely ever to be fully concluded. However, it can be said that early in human history the invention of stone weapons and the development of hunting skills allowed for more meat in the diet, and the discovery of how to make fire enabled meat to be cooked and thus rendered more palatable. At the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 bc), Europeans were hunting on a large scale and meat, at that time always in the form of game, was important in their diets.
The domestic animals familiar today were developed from wild ancestors in prehistoric times. The chronology is uncertain, but it is thought that sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs were all undergoing domestication in the Middle East by 7000 bc. The dog was domesticated in both Eurasia and N. America, and the guinea pig in S. America. The horse (thought to have been domesticated in Russia around 3000 bc) and the chicken (India, about 2000 bc) came late to the scene. All this was important for the history of meat-eating. It should be noted, however, that while domestication and herding meant that meat was close at hand and easily caught, it did not necessarily mean that it was eaten in large amounts, for animals were also valued for milk, wool, and draught.
Another important advance was the invention of fireproof metal and pottery containers, which made it possible for meat to be simmered in liquid as an alternative to roasting in front of the fire. A more ancient, but less convenient, method for cooking it in a liquid had been to place it in a stone-lined pit filled with water, and drop fire-heated stones in to warm the water; see fulachta fiadh, dealing with this in Ireland.
Cooking meat is touched on further at the end of this article. Meawhile it is appropriate to consider more closely just what is being cooked.
Physically, skeletal muscle consists of long bundles of very thin fibres, each fibre representing an individual cell. Collectively, these bundles give the ‘grain’ apparent when muscles are cut across. The basic chemistry of meat exploits the properties of two proteins which allow voluntary movement in animals. These are actin and myosin which exist as long molecules lying parallel to each other in muscle fibres. When muscles contract, electrical impulses cause the two proteins to slide past each other and bond, forming a complex molecule known as actomyosin, shortening and holding the position. The fibre bundles are supported by fine sheets of connective tissue and are attached to the bones by tendons; the protein collagen is important in these tissues. Protein accounts for about 18% of the total weight of lean raw muscle, water represents about 75%, and fat 3%. Most of the water is held mechanically within the structure of the muscle, although a small proportion is chemically bound to the protein. Proportions vary according to species, and joints of meat usually include more fat in the form of visible layers.
These properties contribute to the taste and feel of meat on the palate. Long, slender muscle fibres are associated with tenderness, and juiciness with the capacity of the muscle to hold water. High proportions of connective tissue increase the toughness of meat. Reticulin and elastin are not affected by heat, although collagen is, and on heating becomes gelatin. Most meat produced by western animal husbandry also includes deposits of fat, both as a solid layer under the skin and around internal organs, and as marbling, tiny flecks within the muscle. Marbling also contributes to tenderness, as the pockets of fat melt and lubricate the muscle fibres during cooking.
The red colour of meat is derived from two pigments, both of which contain iron which combines reversibly with oxygen. Haemoglobin, the red pigment in blood responsible for oxygen transport, accounts for about one-quarter to one-third of the pigment. The rest is myoglobin which holds oxygen within the muscle, ready for metabolic purposes. The harder a muscle has to work, the more oxygen it requires and the more myoglobin it contains. Heart muscles, which work non-stop, are a deep red. Age and species also affect the amount of myoglobin; thus beef is a deeper red than veal, and lamb is redder than pork. Whale meat, which has to hold large amounts of oxygen when the animals make prolonged dives, contains so much myoglobin that it is almost black.
Chemical changes in myoglobin produce the colour changes in fresh meat. After death, the pigment changes from the bright red oxygenated form in living tissue, oxymyoglobin, to purplish, deoxygenated myoglobin. If the meat is cut, the surface turns bright red again for a short time, as oxygen from the air combines with the myoglobin to give oxymyoglobin once more. Fresh meat sometimes shows a brownish discoloration due to denaturation of myoglobin to a form known as metmyoglobin. This reaction is also partially responsible for the brown colour of cooked meat. Traditional meat cures usually turn the meat a pink colour which is heat stable. A reaction between myoglobin and sodium or potassium nitrates, present in minute quantities in many recipes for preserving meat, is responsible for this. Meat fat also varies in colour, a creamy white being considered most desirable.
The texture and flavour of beef benefits from hanging or ageing the carcass after slaughter. The lean part of beef which has not been aged for long is bright red. Beef which has been aged for some time is a darker red.
The most obvious influence is that of species; other factors are the breed, age, nutrition, sex, and activity level of an animal. Domesticated animals, particularly cattle, have long been bred for specific purposes, and those intended for beef generally provide better meat than dairy cattle. Younger animals have tenderer muscle but less fat than older ones; this is why veal has a rather dry texture. Flavour, too, is milder. Castrated males have a different distribution of fat and muscle from uncastrated ones. A well-nourished animal is fatter, and one which has had little more to do than graze in a field will be tenderer than one that has spent its life pulling a plough. Exercise increases the number of filaments in the bundles of muscle fibres; the larger the bundle, the tougher the meat tends to be. Feedstuffs, too, make a difference to flavour, and certain substances may actually taint the meat.
The condition of the animal at slaughter and the treatment of the carcass afterwards are also important. Indeed, the physiological state of an animal at the time of slaughter is extremely important to the quality of the meat. A calm, well-rested animal is desirable, for in this state the muscles contain their full complement of glycogen (a form of carbohydrate found only in animal tissue, the substance which provides energy for instant action). On slaughter, the glycogen undergoes a series of chemical changes which eventually result in the formation of lactic acid. In a live animal the acid is removed by the bloodstream, or broken down further. In a dead one, it accumulates and lowers the pH of the muscle from about 7 to about 5.5. The increased acidity enhances tenderness (because it aids denaturation of the proteins) and, by making the meat less hospitable to bacteria, allows it to keep better. If the animal is struggling or exhausted, the glycogen content of the muscles is lower, and the acid content of the meat correspondingly less, with bad, even disastrous, consequences for the quality of the meat. Rigor mortis, however, is a temporary and inevitable consequence of death, in which the actin and myosin bind in response to changes in the chemical conditions within the muscle; it passes within hours as the changes continue. If meat is cooked while it persists, it will be too tough.
Domestic animals killed for meat in Britain are first stunned and then bled; removing the blood decreases the risk of spoilage. Generally, after dressing (removal of the hide, head, feet, and internal organs), rigor is allowed to pass and the carcass is hung or aged by suspending it in a temperature of 1–3 °C (34–7 °F) under controlled humidity for a length of time which varies according to species. Lamb is aged for up to a week, pork for about 10 days, and beef can be aged for up to six weeks. Veal requires no ageing. For kosher meat (see Jewish dietary laws), kashruth law stipulates that all meat must be consumed within 72 hours of slaughter. Offal is consumed very soon after slaughter.
During ageing further slow changes leading to increased tenderness occur in the meat. These are poorly understood, but are probably due to enzymes acting within the muscles. It is now unusual for meat to be aged for very long, principally for economic reasons: a large quantity of meat in store represents a considerable amount of inert capital; the storage itself is expensive; the meat loses some weight due to evaporation; and the surface of the carcass has to be trimmed after hanging, representing further loss.
An independent limiting factor in ageing meat is the fatty acid content. Unsaturated fatty acids are prone to rancidity. Beef, however, has a high saturated fatty acid content, which means it can be hung for a long time.
Patterns of jointing meat vary between countries depending on the methods favoured for cookery. In England, meat tends to be cut with two main methods in mind: roasting, for the tenderer parts with a high proportion of muscle, and stewing, for areas with more connective tissue. The various roasting joints are cut across bones and groups of muscles, and the fat left in place. Areas such as the forequarter, less suited to this treatment, are cut into chunks for stewing. N. Americans follow a simplified version of the same principle, with more emphasis on yielding small pieces such as steaks and chops suitable for grilling (broiling) or barbecuing; meat unsuitable for such methods is often minced (ground). French butchery methods rely more on dissecting out muscles. Freed from bone, fat, and connective tissue, the meat is rolled and tied to give neat compact joints suitable for cooking with wine or stock.
At this stage, the tenderness of meat can also be influenced by breaking it down physically. Chopping, mincing, or grinding, which breaks the fibres into small pieces, is a common response to tough meat, from the American hamburger to the Middle Eastern kibbeh. Some cheaper cuts of steak are beaten or tenderized mechanically, but this also affects the water-holding capacity of the muscle, to the detriment of juiciness in the cooked meat. Even tender meat is cut in slices across the grain, making it easier to chew, as the fibres are shorter. Most cuisines have examples of this, for instance, the American T-bone steak, the French escalope (see veal), the Middle Eastern kebab, and the thin slices cut for stir-frying in Chinese cookery.
The cook may also influence tenderness and flavour in the kitchen. One way of doing this is to add fat by larding or barding (as when small birds are wrapped in thin sheets of fat). Another is using a marinade. For marinating, meat is soaked in mixtures of herbs, spices, oil, and acid ingredients such as wine, vinegar, or fruit juice. Acid does denature the surface proteins of the meat, but has a limited effect on the interior and tends to make the meat dry. Chemical tenderizers, using enzymes which break down proteins, can also be rubbed over meat before cooking.
Meat is rarely consumed raw, although some cultures include the practice and one or two western dishes, notably steak tartare and carpaccio, do call for raw meat. There are several good reasons for cooking meat. Safety is one; raw meat may carry pathogenic organisms.
Cooking also enhances flavour and makes meat easier to chew and digest. It affects the structure of meat in several ways. It acts on the muscle fibres, in which the proteins coagulate, becoming shrunk and dense under prolonged heating. Collagen dissolves slowly at a low temperature, faster at a higher one. Searing or surface browning enhances flavour (but does not form a juice-retaining crust, as was thought in the 19th century). Cooking denatures the myoglobin; it retains its red oxymyoglobin form in rare meat, but oxidizes and turns greyish-brown on further heating.
Methods for cooking meat fall into two basic categories: dry, which means to roast, grill, or fry; and wet—to braise, steam, poach, or boil. Dry methods, in which heat reaches the meat by convection through the air or conduction through the surface of a pan, are generally used for tender cuts; wet methods, which rely on liquids for heat transfer, are suitable for tougher cuts with more connective tissue. Of late, there has been an interest in cooking meats at lower temperatures, and for longer, than was once thought feasible. One method, the confit, has found general favour, but roasting or baking at very low temperatures for a matter of hours has been seen to result in very tender meat with excellent flavour. The method of cooking, and how much cooking, will often depend on how the meat is to be eaten: those cultures which do not employ sharp metal implements at table will be aiming for a very different effect from those which do.
For more information on meat cookery, see beef; lamb; pork; veal; and barbecue.
See also meat preservation.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
