- published: 03 Jul 2013
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Red meat in traditional culinary terminology is meat which is red when raw, and not white when cooked. Red meat includes the meat of most adult mammals and some fowl (e.g. ducks).
In gastronomy, red meat is darker-colored meat, as contrasted with white meat. The exact definition varies by time, place, and culture, but the meat of adult mammals such as cows, sheep, and horses is invariably considered red, while chicken and rabbit is invariably considered white. The meat of young mammals such as milk-fed veal calves, sheep, and pigs is traditionally considered white; while the meat of duck and goose is considered red.Game is sometimes put in a separate category altogether (French: viandes noires — "black meats").
"Red meat" does not refer to how well a piece of meat is cooked. Nor does it refer to its coloration after it has been cooked.
The main determinant of the nutritional definition of the color of meat is the concentration of myoglobin. The white meat of chicken has under 0.05%; pork and veal have 0.1-0.3%; young beef has 0.4-1.0%; and old beef has 1.5-2.0%.
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths just past this range are called infrared (below red) and cannot be seen by the naked eye although they can be sensed as heat. In some cultures, certain shades of red are used to symbolize anger or aggression.
It is the color of blood when it is exposed to sunlight. In western countries, it is most commonly referred to as a color of evil, love, and sometimes, though rarely, happiness.
The word red comes from the Old English rēad. The word can be further traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root reudh-. In Sanskrit, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g., roses), and ripe fruits (e.g., apples, cherries). Fire is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy, light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism in the mid-19th century, red was used to symbolize and describe revolutionary movements.
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Generally, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as offal. Often, meat is used in a more restrictive sense—the flesh of mammalian species (pigs, cattle, lambs, etc.) raised and prepared for human consumption, to the exclusion of fish and other seafood, poultry, and other animals. Usage varies worldwide by culture, and some countries such as India have large populations that avoid the consumption of all or most kinds of meat. Game or bush meat is also generally distinguished from that produced by agriculture.
The consumption of meat has various traditions and rituals associated with it in different cultures such as kosher and halal and its production is generally regulated by state authorities as well. This article is mainly focused on that process from primary production to consumption.
The word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general. The term is related to mad in Danish, mat in Swedish and Norwegian, and matur in Icelandic, which also mean 'food'. The word "mete" also exists in Old Frisian (and to a lesser extent, modern West Frisian) to denote important food, differentiating it from "swiets" (sweets) and "dierfied" (animal feed).