Hamburger vs hamburg

[sagehen]

Alice Faber wrote:
>A. Maberry said:
 >>What does the "cube" in cube steak signify? I seem to recall hearing also
>>"cubed steak".
>
>I was actually thinking about that when I was waxing rhapsodic about
>Salisbury steak (did I *really* wax rhapsodic about Salisbury steak???!?).
>One kind of meat tenderizer is a metal cube on a handle sort of like a
>mallet. The business side is kind of spiked, so if you wale away at your
>tough cut of meat you'll break down the fibers. My old Joy of Cooking is of
>little help, referring just to a tough cut of meet that needs to be
>macerated in order to tenderize it.
>
>Alice

Swiss steak and cube steak are prepared similarly in that both are
subjected to pounding  by some sort of implement to break down the
connective fibers. My mother used the edge of a small plate for Swiss
steak, first dredging the piece of meat in seasoned four, then
systematically moving across the surface of the meat with parallel blows
then turning it 90š and repeating the procedure.  Cube steak could be done
similarly, but without the flour.
"Macerating," though it sounds violent is not beating, but merely soaking
in a suitable liquid.  It would not produce "cube" steak.
A. Murie