Andouille: Cajun or French sausage that is prepared from lean pork and spiced with cayenne pepper, mustard, paprika, and garlic. Served cold or hot.
Bacon: Cured meat from the sides and belly of a pig.
Brisket: Cut that includes the anterior end of the sternum bones, the deep pectoral muscle, and the supraspinatus muscle. Commonly sold as either boneless flat cut or boneless point cut.
Chicken Breast: Cut made from the breast of a chicken.
Chicken Wings: Cut that includes the wing section of a chicken, flats or drumettes.
Filet Mignon: A boneless tenderloin steak.
Kielbasa: Polish sausage that is highly seasoned and typically contains garlic.
Lamb Leg: Cut from the back two limbs of a lamb.
Lamb Loin Chops: Crosswise slices from the loin roast of a lamb.
Lamb Shank: Cut from the arm of a lamb, contains leg bone and part of the shoulder bone.
New York Strip: Cut of beef from the upper party of the short loin.
Pork Chops: Cut of pork loin, taken perpendicularly to the spine, may contain ribs or part of a vertebra.
Pork Loin: Cut of pork from the tissue along the top of the rib cage.
Pork Tenderloin: Cut of pork from the psoas major muscle along the central spine.
Porterhouse: Choice cut of beef from between the prime ribs and the sirloin.
Rib Eye: Cut of beef from the outer side of the ribs.
Round: Beef steak from the rear leg of a cow, which is divided into multiple cuts.
T-Bone: Cut of beef that includes the short loin and a “T-shaped” bone with meat on each side.
Beef: The flesh of a cow, bull, or ox, used for food.
Boneless: General term applied to any piece of meat presented without bones.
Butterfly: Term referring to a single muscle, or group of muscles that have been cut in one or more places to leave a hinge, so that the cut can be opened like butterfly wings.
Chop: A cut of meat including parts of the rib.
Curing: The process of preserving meat with salt.
Cut: General term used for a piece, segment, or section of an animal produced during butchering.
Cutlet: A relatively thin, boneless cut of meat.
Dark Meat: Meat from only highly used muscles in poultry, usually found in the legs.
Free-Range: Animals that are allowed to move freely outdoors as they are raised for market.
Grading: A system used to define the quality and yield of meat.
Marbling: The fat deposited within muscle tissue.
Marinated: Food that is soaked in a seasoned liquid to tenderize the meat.
Organic: Term given to food that is raised without various chemicals, growth enhancers, or antibiotics.
Poultry: Any variety of birds raised commercially for food.
USDA: A department of the United States government that manages various programs related to food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, and nutrition.
White Meat: Meat from the breast and wing muscles of birds that fly in short bursts.