Meat chop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A chop of meat is a cut of meat usually containing a rib or part of a vertebra and served as an individual portion.
A thin boneless chop, or one with only the rib bone, may be called a cutlet, though the difference is not always clear.
The term "chop" is not usually used for beef, but a T-bone steak is essentially a loin chop, and a rib steak a rib chop.
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[edit] Butchery
Chops are generally cut from lamb, pork, veal, or mutton, but also from game such as venison. They are cut perpendicular to the spine, and usually include a rib and a section of chine. They are typically cut from 10–50mm thick.
In United States markets, pork chops are classified as "center-cut" or "shoulder". Lamb chops are classified as shoulder, blade, rib, loin or kidney, and leg or sirloin chops. The rib chops are narrower, fattier, and tastier, while the loin chops are broader and leaner.[1]
Sometimes lamb chops are cut with an attached piece of kidney.
Chops may either be cut by separating the ribs using a knife and then cutting the spine with a hacksaw or cleaver; or by sawing perpendicularly to the spine using a band saw, which cuts across some ribs diagonally.
Chops are sometimes beaten with the side of a cleaver or with a meat pounder to make them thinner and more tender.
[edit] Cookery
Chops may be cooked in various ways, including grilling, pan-broiling, sautéeing, braising, breading and frying, baking, and so on.
Lamb chops are invariably cooked with dry heat, grilled or pan-broiled.
Pork chops and veal chops are grilled, sautéed, or braised, or breaded and fried ("milanese").
[edit] History
In Britain, the idea of a chop comes from the 17th century, when London chophouses invented the idea of cooking individual portions of meat. (Davidson)
[edit] References
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Alan Davidson, Oxford Companion to Food
- Larousse Gastronomique, s.v. pork, lamb, veal.
