New York Cuts Steaks

Mon Aug 9 07:18:31 UTC 2004

How come "New York Cut" didn't make the cut of OED's "New York" revision? 
Nothing in DARE?

The ProQuest hits c;ear;y show "New York Cut" from Los Angeles--which means 
San Francisco, although there are some early hits in the Washington Post.

Here's a pre-sleep "New York Cut" entry that I just made for my web site:

It appears that "New York Cut" comes from San Francisco, about 1900. The 
full-text Chicago Tribune doesn't have it much at all, nor does the New 
York Times. However, New York Cut Steaks are frequently mentioned in the 
Los Angeles Times. Digitized San Francisco newspapers are not yet 
available.

Here are some citations that I could round up.

http://www.cmcchef.com/BeefTerms.html
New York Cut Sirloin Steak: Popular name in Northern California for de-boned 
and rolled roast cut from top half of sirloin.  
Alias New York Top Sirloin. 
New York Steak: Strip Loin Steak. Popular name in retail markets and 
restaurants 
New York Strip: Roast See Strip Loin Roast. 
New York Strip Steak: See Strip Loin Steak. 
New York Tips: See Sirloin Tips. 
New York Tip Steak: SIRLOIN Small muscle from top of section near backbone. 
New York Top Sirloin Steak: See New York Cut Sirloin Steak.   

http://www.asiatour.com/x-librar/dining/grill.htm
A New York cut on the contrary has nothing to do with the quality of the meat 
but with the location of the meat on the carcass. A New York cut is a slice 
of meat from above the ribs without the bone but with an edge of fat. In 
French, such cuts are called entrecote, and in England and Germany they are named 
rump steak. If the New York cut comes rather from the back section of the 
animal, and if it is prepared with the rib bone, it's called a sirloin steak.  

http://www.odysseyseafood.com/wholesale/products/halibut.asp
Steaks (Loin & Regular cut)
Cut from H&G halibut, width-wise from head to tail, steaks typically include 
a small layer of skin and section of bone. Loin steaks are considered the “New 
York”-cut; offering a better yield and presentation than regular steaks, 
which are a mix of “half moons”, full moons and “squares”. 

23 April 1903, Washington Post, pg. 2:
Engel Brothers Co.
Ninth Street Win,
Center Market
Will sell you best quality
New York Rib Roast...12c to 18c
New York Sirloin Steak...15c

November 1905 box, New York Public Library Menu Collection:
Techau Tavern, San Francisco--"Club House Sandwich,""Manhattan Sandwich," 
"Westphalia Ham Sandwich," "Chicken, a la Marengo,""Hi-Balls," "New York Cut."  (

18 November 1914, Los Angeles Times, pg. II12:
Grilled New York Cut Sirloin Steak.

<i>The Hotel Butcher, Garde Manger and Carver</i>
by Frank Rivers
Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press
]1916

Pg. 29: In length, ribs are of two standard cuts. One is the Western or 
seven-rib cut; the other the New York or eight-rib cut. The Western cut is made one 
rib from the loin and seven ribs from the chuck. Leaving one rib to the loin 
is convenient for handling and hanging; but it is really a "money" cut. The 
loin sells for about twice as much as the rib, and by leaving one rib to the 
loin, the money cut is made. The New York cut of eight ribs does not leave any 
rib to the loin when preoperly made; but it is not always properly made, as the 
money cut can be, and is at times made at the chuck end of the rib.

12 November 1938, CUE, pg. 10, col. 1:
"New York Cut" is a phrase to conjure with on Western menus, and you can be 
sure that the word "cut" doesn't refer to the price.

27 August 1948, New York Times, pg. 1:
...New York cut steak, also with biscuits and honey, for $2.50.
(Ott's Drive-In of San Francisco menu--ed.)

10 December 1957, New York Times, pg. 5:
(Ad for Delta Air Lines "Royal Texan" non-stop to Houston - ed.)
New York Strip Sirloin. charcoal-broiled to order!

2 January 1991, New York Times, pg. C8:
In Search of New York Steak? Ask Anywhere but New York_
By MOLLY O'NEILL_(...) 
In the menu collection at the New-York Historical Society, the first mention 
of a steak with the New York nomenclature was in 1957, surprisingly recent, 
and was for "New York Cut Steak," which would seem to mean that it was more 
significant that the steak was cut in New York than from a particular vicinity of 
the steer.

9 January 1991, New York Times, pg. C4 (letters):
Name That Steak
To the Living Section:
Regarding Molly O'Neill's De Gustibus column "In Search of New York Steak?" 
Ask Anywhere but New York" (Jan. 2), a New York steak may be a shell steak, 
and it may be a sirloin steak, but it is not a strip steak, because a strip 
steak is a Kansas City steak. Bon appetit!
STUART TARLOWE
Clifton, N.J.