Beef Brisket: when you say the name, it immediately conjures up a variety of delicious dishes from the traditional Jewish pot roast, to the corned beef cooked with cabbage for Saint Patrick’s Day, or the delectable Texas-style smoked barbecue – in fact it’s so popular down South the Americans even have National Brisket Day which they celebrate on May 28.

Brisket is a primal cut of meat, which means it’s a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass during butchering. There are eight primal cuts: chuck, rib, loin, round, flank, short plate, shank and brisket. This particular cut is taken from the breast or lower chest of the bovine, but because it’s heavy in connective tissue, it has to be cooked correctly – in most cases this means long and slow over a low heat – to tenderise it properly. Typically a less expensive cut of meat, it’s always been a popular choice to braise or stew; and is the favourite cut for making corned beef and its spiced and smoked counterpart, pastrami.

Because of its versatility, beef brisket enjoys many incarnations around the globe: in Hong Kong it’s most often served in noodle soup or curries; in Korea it’s cooked, pressed and then thinly sliced, although a current trend is to slice it very thinly while raw and then cook it quickly over a high heat; in New Zealand it’s popular amongst the Maori people where they boil it up with seasoned green vegetables and potatoes; in Italy it’s enjoyed in a stew; while in Pakistan it forms part of their national dish, Nihari.

This ‘everyman’ cut is now so popular that the Telegraph last year asked ‘Is Beef Brisket the New Pulled Pork’ – a food which has seen meat sales soar in the last year. Beef brisket has become such a favourite that a London based restaurant opened a ‘brisket bar’ where the signature dish is an 18-24 hour smoked brisket. There are a multitude of ways to cook this cut of meat, but if you’re looking for three slightly different ways to enjoy your brisket, then consider Texas Beef Brisket Chili; Martha Stewart’s Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket and Mediterranean Style Beef Brisket. For all your Halaal beef brisket needs, along with all the other high-quality primal cuts, be sure to call or email N1 today.