Tag: Meat terminology

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a cooked 3.5-ounce serving of meat is classified as “lean” if it contains less than 10 grams of total fat. The simple, descriptive meaning of the term is the key to understanding why it is called lean meat, a designation for cuts and types of meat that contain less fat than their counterparts.

The word "beef" traces its roots to the Old French "buef," a distinction introduced by the Norman conquerors of England, who used the term for the meat consumed by the upper classes. This linguistic history reveals that answering "Is beef just cow meat?" requires understanding the broader term "cattle."