Long before Google became very popular and indispensible, when people wanted to find out the “real meaning” of things, they’d go on a long and perilous journey. The quest for the impossible dream. The search for the real meaning of life. Juan Ponce De Leon went on an expedition to find the fountain of youth and instead discovered Florida. On a more personal level, my friend looked into his soul and came to the conclusion that god is just a fabrication of man. He became an atheist. I, too, went on a search, albeit for something not as lofty. It was for the real meaning of cormed beef, a.k.a. carne norte.

made in australia

In the Philippines, corned beef occupies the apex of the canned food pyramid. It is a staple in most balikbayan boxes being sent home by Filipinos working in the States. I’ll never forget a coworker who told me “Chiqui, di baleng natutumba na ko sa kakatrabaho,  basta makakabili lang ako ng carne norte at maipapadala sa mga kapatid ko ay maligaya na ko.” (Chiqui, it doesn’t matter if I collapse from work. As long as I can buy corned beef and send it home to my siblings, I am happy.”) I remember him everytime I open a can. Sometimes I get teary-eyed. This guy worked 16 hours/six days a week. One day on my shift, I saw him stagger and slump into a chair. He passed out from exhaustion.  This is just an illustration of how big a deal corned beef is to most average-income Filipinos. Hence, scrutinizing its nature and history is a worthwhile endeavour.

Here in the States, where quality beef is cheap and abundant, it is not all that. In American-owned stores, you’ll usually find only one brand. Sometimes they don’t even have it. But go to Seafood City or Islands Pacific, which are Filipino-owned grocery stores, and you will see lots and lots of brands: Libby’s, Hereford, Palm, Ox and Palm, Martin’s Purefoods, etc.

made in New Zealand, they come in different flavors

Sauteed with lots of garlic and onions, who can resist its aroma? Competing with other hungry mouths at the dinner table makes it even more delicious and desirable. It’s always been my favorite as a child. I was around seven when I asked my mother, “Why do they call it corned beef? Do they put corn in it?” My mother explained that it comes from cattle that have been fed with corn. The authority in her voice  left no room for any doubts in my mind. “Makes sense,” I thought to myself. We had a 10-volume Children’s World of Knowledge. In one volume, I saw a picture of a farmer feeding his farm animals with corn.

made in brazil,never buy them, they’re clearing the amazon for cattle

For years, that was the unshakable truth that I held about his particular canned food. Then came college….. I had this roommate who was into Food Technology. We were discussing something and I got irritated with her. To stump her, I posed the question I knew she didn’t have the answer to. Why is corned beef  called corned beef? She stopped and thought for a long time. She searched her brain for food tech data, but I’m sure she didn’t find any because I noticed that there wasn’t much conviction in her voice. “They use corn as an extender for it”, came her weak answer. ”Hhhmmmph!” I snorted inwardly. When you open a can of corned beef, you’ll only see meat and fats. There is no starchy texture that may suggest corn extenders. And so we argued….

Some years later, I met an agriculture student from UP Los Banos. A light bulb lit up in my brain when he told me that he was into cattle husbandry. Maybe he knew a thing or two about corned beef. So I asked the question again. Why is corned beef called corned beef? He kept quiet. “A Food Tech student told me it’s because they use corn as extenders and my mother told me they use corn-fed cattle. Which is it really?”, I badgered him. He just went LOL. That made me feel really stupid. Looking back, I think that loud laughter was just a mask for his ignorance. He didn’t have the answer either.

I was confused when I saw this kind

I got older, graduated, started working, and became friends with a retired US coast guard. During a conversation, he mentioned that he also worked as a meat inspector at a slaughter house in the US. Bells rang in my head. I raised the question again: Why is corned beef called corned beef? I told him the different views I got from different people. “So which is it really? Corn extenders or corn-fed cattle?”, I continued. He didn’t go LOL, but I still felt stupid when he started speaking. He chuckled and clarified that “corned” is just a slang for something that is processed. Corned beef simply means processed beef.

Oh. I never expected that.

When I got home, I pulled out a rarely-used, five-inch thick Merriam Webster Dictionary from the bookshelf. I opened it up on the very dining table where I had first asked my mother the most important question of my life. Letter C. Color. Commerce. Cordial. I was getting excited. Corned. I found it! Its meaning was – preserved in salt water, processed: corned beef.

He was right.

There’s a lesson to be learned here. When I came up with the question years ago, the dictionary  that held the answer had been sitting there on the shelf. All those years…I could have looked up the word, but I chose to go around asking people. It made me feel stupid. I got into an argument. I was laughed at. I could have spared myself all that. Bottomline: Before you launch yourself into a grand quest for the “real meaning” of whatever, take the time to check the dictionary, or ,better yet, just google it.