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Revision as of 21:50, 31 July 2003 by Sannse (talk | contribs) (Disambiguating English)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Beef is meat obtained from a bovine, usually a steer rather than a cow. Cattle raised for beef are often allowed to roam free on grasslands. Beef is one of the more common meats used in European and North American cuisine. Beef is an important part of Tex-Mex cuisine. Beef production is also important in Argentina. Beef can be made into steak and ground into hamburger.
Beef is taboo in a number of religions, most notably Hinduism. Also, consumption of beef while not strictly taboo is also frowned upon by many Buddhists in East Asia.
Roast Beef
In Europe, the English are particularly associated with beef-eating, which is why the French call them les rosbifs (roast beefs).
In fact, according to research carried out by the Museum of London amongst Roman rubbish dumps in London, it seems that the English acquired their first taste of roast beef from the Roman miliraty as the city expanded under their occupation. Despite this, it seems not to have become popular amongst the population in general until the Middle Ages or later, and only became a 'national caricature' in the 18th century. (Observer Aug 6, 2000). Today, England has more Vegetarians and semi-vegetarians than (most/all?) other Western countries.
There is also a (much parodied) song called The Roast Beef of Old England.
"Mad Cow Disease"
Embarrassingly, the over-intensive farming of Beef resulted in the World's first recognised outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or, colloquially, "mad cow disease") in 1986.