Corned beef is beef that has been preserved by soaking it in salty water with special spices. The “corned” part has nothing to do with corn, the vegetable. Instead, it comes from old-fashioned “corns” of salt: large, coarse grains of salt that looked like kernels of corn. These salt corns were rubbed into the meat to keep it from spoiling before refrigeration existed.

The curing process takes several days and gives the beef a distinctive pink color and salty, savory flavor. Corned beef is usually made from a tough cut called brisket, but the long soaking in brine makes it tender and flavorful when cooked slowly.

You might encounter corned beef in a deli sandwich, where thin slices are piled high on rye bread, or in the traditional Irish-American dish of corned beef and cabbage, popular on St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef hash, a breakfast dish of chopped corned beef mixed with potatoes, shows how people have long used preserved meat creatively.