For culinary purposes is of two kinds, the steer and the cow. Steer beef is superior and the flesh should be of a bright red marble with yellow fat, and a thick outside layer of fat under a fine grained skin; the lean should be firm and elastic when pressed with the fingers; the suet should be dry and crumble easily. Cow beef is of closer grain, the fat is white instead of yellow, and the flesh of a darker red, BULL beef is sometimes worked off on the unwary by the packing houses when shipping to distant cities, especially so in the form of tenderloins; it is large, coarse, very dark in color, and unfit for table use.

Beef A La Mode

Any piece of solid beef, preferably the silverside of the round, is larded with seasoned strips of larding pork, then laid in dilute vinegar containing slices of carrot, turnips and onions with whole spices, for several hours. It is then taken out and quickly roasted in oven to get the outside seared, then placed in saucepan, covered with a piquante sauce, lid of saucepan put on, then gently simmered till tender; served in slices with a garnish of braised vegetables and some of the sauce it was cooked in, (also called, "pot roast" and "sour pot roast.")

German Style Beef Stew

Cold beef a la mode is cut into small pieces and heated in a sour sauce; served garnished with potato pancakes.

Beef Roast

Preferably the set, or seven ribs from the shoulder to the loin is for hotel use. The lower end of the ribs, called SHORTRIBS, should be roasted with another pan over the top, so as to become more juicy and tender than by roasting them open. The usual accompaniment to roast beef is some of the pan or dish gravy with a slice of Yorkshire pudding, while for the shortribs a little grated horseradish and browned potatoes is best.

Boiled Beef

The best pieces for boiling are the flank, brisket, and short ribs, they should be boiled tender with a flavoring of vegetables, and served with horseradish sauce, cream sauce and carrots or suet dumplings, or mixed vegetables such as carrot, turnip, onion, cabbage and potato.

Corned Beef

Flank, short ribs, brisket or rump of beef is put to soak in brine made of twenty-five pounds of salt, twelve ounces of rock saltpetre, two pounds of sugar and fifteen gallons of water, all boiled together, skimmed, cooled, the beef then put in with a cover on and a weight on that to keep the beef under the brine, (ready for use in a week to ten days).

Boiled Corned Beef

The meat put to boil in cold water, scum taken off as it rises, then allowed to simmer till tender (about four hours) served in slices with cabbage, parsnips, carrots, sometimes with all three vegetables; also with suet dumplings; sometimes with a brown sauce and garnished with brussels sprouts.

Spiced Beef

A whole flank of beef with bones, gristle and inner skin removed, laid out flat, outside skin downwards, then rubbed with a mixture of salt, ground pepper, mace, allspice, cloves and ginger; rolled up and tied, then put to soak for ten days with some pickle from the corned beef brine to which is added whole cloves, peppers, allspice and bay leaves. When to be cooked, it is taken from the pickle, wiped dry, dipped in fat that is near cool so as to take on a good coating, then rolled in a dough made of plain flour and water, placed in a medium oven and slowly baked (five to six hours). If to be served hot, cut in slices and serve with piquante sauce and garnish with small cut vegetables. If to be served cold, as is generally done, the dough is left on till thoroughly cold, or till to be served; even for a month it will not spoil if the dough is not disturbed. Served cold in thin slices garnished with pickles.

ALL SALT, CORNED OR SMOKED MEATS IF SIMMERED TILL DONE, INSTEAD OF QUICK BOILING, and allowed to cool in the water they were simmered in, will be found always more juicy and tender, and capable of longer keeping.