Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. Acceptability as a food source varies in different parts of the world. Beef muscle meat can be cut into roasts, short ribs or steak. Some cuts are processed, and trimmings, usually mixed with meat from older, leaner cattle, are ground, minced or used in sausages. The blood is used in some varieties of blood sausage. Other parts that are eaten include the oxtail, liver, tongue, tripe from the reticulum or rumen, glands, the heart, the brain, the liver, the kidneys, and the tender testicles of the bull. Some intestines are cooked and eaten as-is, but are more often cleaned and used as natural sausage casings. The bones are used for making beef stock. Beef from steers and heifers is very similar,, except steers have slightly less fat and more muscle. Depending on economics, the number of heifers kept for breeding varies. Older animals are used for beef when they are past their reproductive prime. The meat from older cows and bulls is usually tougher, so it is frequently used for mince /ground beef.