Meats Category

Many Asians believe that soup made from black chicken has medicinal properties that are especially helpful to women.

This moist German ham is smoked over pine and fir, and coated with beef blood to give it a black exterior.

This is a spicy German pork sausage that's usually served in sandwiches. It comes ready-to-eat.

Asian markets carry this. Europeans use it to make blood pudding, while Filipinos use it to make dinuguan, a stew.

These eggplant-colored sausages are made of pig's blood mixed with fat, a filler like bread crumbs, and other flavorings that vary from region to region. They're usually sold precooked, but most people heat them before serving. Regional varieties include Germany's blutwurst, Louisiana's boudin rouge, and Spanish morcilla.

This is a spicy and salty German blood sausage made from pork, beef, and beef blood. Germans like to snack on it, or mix it with sauerkraut. It comes already cooked, but it's usually heated before being served.

Boar meat is similar to pork, only leaner, redder, and stronger-tasting. Make sure you cook it thoroughly--it's possible to contract trichinosis from undercooked boar meat.

This is a mild German sausage made with veal, pork, milk, and eggs, and seasoned with chives and parsley. You need to cook it before serving. Use it soon after you buy it--it's very perishable.

This is a spicy South African farmer's sausage, made with beef, pork, and pork fat, and seasoned with coriander. You need to cook it before serving.

This soft, mild sausage is a sandwich staple. It's made from beef and/or pork and usually smoked. It's usually sold sliced and ready-to-eat.

This economical, rectangular roast is the cut of choice for pulled pork barbecue, since it's marbled with enough fat to keep the meat moist while cooking. You can buy it bone-in or boneless.

This is a white sausage made of meat (pork, chicken, or veal) and rice. France produces a very delicate milk-based version, while the Cajun version includes a lot of rice as a filler, making it chewier and more flavorful.

This Cajun specialty is similar to boudin blanc, except that it also includes pork blood. Use it soon after you buy it.

Even adventurous eaters often draw the line at brains, and it's just as well, since they're loaded with cholesterol. Those who do eat them often scramble them with eggs. It's very important that brains be fresh, so either cook them or freeze them the day you buy them.

This is made with pork and sometimes veal, and seasoned with subtle spices. It usually needs to be cooked before eating, though some markets carry precooked bratwurst.

These pork patties are heavily seasoned. They're usually fried before serving.

A specialty of Northern Italy, this air-dried beef is moist and very lean. It's normally sliced paper thin and used much like prosciutto

Buffalo meat tastes like beef, but it's a lot leaner. To keep tender cuts from drying out, cook them to no more than medium rare. Tougher cuts should be cooked very slowly over low heat.

This air-dried beef is a Swiss delicacy. It's much more delicate that ordinary beef jerky.

This spicy dry Italian salami is made out of pork and hot chile peppers.

These are highly prized for their sweet flavor.

Canadian bacon tastes like ham and is much leaner than American bacon. It's made from pork loin that's been smoked and cured. Note that Irish bacon is also sometimes called back bacon.

These are boneless hams that are sealed in a can and then cooked. They're not as flavorful as other kinds of ham, and they have a higher moisture content, which makes them more perishable. Store the unopened can in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it, and use leftovers within a week.

Italian in origin, this is a sometimes spicy dry-cured pork shoulder.

This is a Hispanic (or in the case of tasajo, Caribbean) version of beef jerky that involves soaking strips of meat in a spicy marinade, and then drying it in the sun, in a smoker, or in an oven.

This spicy pork sausage is used in jambalaya and other Creole and Cajun dishes. It's available either in links or patties, but it's hard to find outside of Louisiana.

Chicken is a relatively lean and inexpensive meat, so it's a culinary workhorse. Broiler-fryers = fryers = broilers are between 2 1/2 and 5 pounds, and can be broiled, roasted, or fried. They're not good for stewing. Stewing chickens are tougher and best used, as their name suggests, in stews and soups. Capons are castrated male chickens that are large (between 5 and 10 pounds) and tender, and have relatively more white meat. They're great for roasting.

Like calf's liver, these are highly prized for their exquisite flavor.

This category includes the well-regarded Yunnan ham = Xuanwei ham. Chinese hams are dry-cured and resemble American country hams.

This spicy pork sausage is used in jambalaya and other Creole and Cajun dishes. It's available either in links or patties, but it's hard to find outside of Louisiana.

These are thin slices of salty dried beef that are usually sold in jars. During World War II, chipped beef was commonly served in a cream sauce on toast. Called "shit on a shingle," it was a dish that managed to taste awful despite its high levels of fat and sodium. Now that we enjoy a higher standard of living, chipped beef has thankfully fallen into relative obscurity.

This is fresh pork mixed with lots of spices. Don't confuse Mexican chorizo, which needs to be cooked, with Spanish chorizo, which is dry-cured. To make your own: See the Homemade Chorizo recipe posted on RecipeSource.com.

Don't confuse Mexican chorizo, which is moist and needs to be cooked, with the Spanish version, which is dry-cured and ready-to-eat. Spanish chorizo is made from pork, and it's very hot and spicy.

This is a heavily seasoned Portuguese pork sausage. Look for it in Portuguese markets.

This is America's most popular ham, the kind that's pink, moist, and sweet. Fresh hams are soaked in brine (or injected with it) and then boiled or lightly smoked. Boneless hams = boned hams are easier to carve, but they're not as flavorful or attractive as bone-in hams. A good compromise is to buy a bone-in spiral-sliced ham, which combines good flavor and convenience, or a ham steak (pictured at right). City hams usually come fully cooked (check the label), but most people reheat them before serving.

These are smaller than hot dogs, but larger than Vienna sausages.

These are precooked sausages or meat loaves that are usually served cold in sandwiches or on party trays. You can buy them already sliced in vacuum packs, or have them sliced to order at a deli counter. Most cold cuts are high in fat and sodium.

This has bits of ham in it.