Although the exact origin of corned beef is unknown, it most likely came about when people began preserving meat through salt-curing. Evidence of its legacy is apparent in numerous cultures, including ancient Europe and the Middle East.^[5] The word corn derives from Old English and is used to describe any small, hard particles or grains.^[6] In the case of corned beef, the word may refer to the coarse, granular salts used to cure the beef.^[5] The word "corned" may also refer to the corns of potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter, which were formerly used to preserve the meat.^[7][8][9]

Although the practise of curing beef existed across the globe since the period of classical antiquity, the industrial production of corned beef started in the British Isles during the British Agricultural Revolution. Corned beef sourced from cattle reared in Ireland and Scotland was used extensively for civilian and military consumption throughout the British Empire beginning from the 17th century onwards due to its non-perishable nature.^[4] Irish and Scottish corned beef was also sold to the French West Indies, where it was used to feed both settlers and slaves.^[10] Industrial processes in the British Isles for producing corned beef during the 17th century did not distinguish different cuts of beef beyond the tough and undesirable parts of the cow such as the beef shank and neck.^[10][11] Instead, the grading was done by sorting all cuts of beef by weight into "small beef", "cargo beef" and "best mess beef", with the first being considered the worst and the last the best.^[10] "Small beef" and "cargo beef" cuts were most commonly traded to the French, while "best mess beef" were frequently intended for sale and consumption in markets throughout the British Empire.^[10]

Ireland produced a significant portion of corned beef consumed in the British Empire during the early modern period, using cattle reared locally and salt imported from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France.^[10] Irish port cities, such as Dublin, Belfast and Cork, became home to large-scale beef curing and packing industries, with Cork alone producing half of Ireland's annual beef exports in 1668.^[11] Although the consumption of corned beef carried no significant negative connotations in Europe, in European colonies in the Americas it was frequently looked upon with disdain due to being primarily consumed by poor people and slaves.^[10] American social theorist Jeremy Rifkin noted the sociopolitical effect of corned beef in the British Isles during the early modern period in his 1992 book Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture:

The British enclosure movement had displaced thousands of rural English families, creating a cheap new labour pool to fill the unskilled jobs in the industrial factories of London, Leeds, Manchester, and Bristol. Shortages of foodstuffs and rising prices were fueling discontent among the new working class and middle class of the cities, threatening open rebellion. British officials and entrepreneurs quieted the masses with Scottish and Irish beef. Historians of the period point out that were it not for the Celtic pasturelands of Scotland and Ireland, it might well have proved impossible to quell the growing unrest of the British working class during the critical decades of British industrial expansion.^[12]

Despite being a major producer of corned beef, the majority of the Irish population during this period, Catholic tenant farmers, consumed relatively little meat in their diets. This was due to a variety of factors, including the high costs of buying meat in Ireland and the ownership of the majority of Irish farms by Protestant landlords, who marked most of the corned beef produced using their cattle for export. The level of meat, including corned beef, present in the Irish diet of the period decreased in areas away from major centres for corned beef production, such as Northern Ireland, while increasing in areas such as County Cork. The majority of meat consumed by working-class Irish Catholics consisted of cheap products such as salt pork, with bacon and cabbage quickly becoming one of the most common meals in Irish cuisine.^[11]

Corned beef became a less important commodity in the 19th century Atlantic world, due in part to the abolition of slavery.^[10] Corned beef production and its canned form remained an important food source during World War II. Much of the canned corned beef was produced by the Frigorífico Anglo in Fray Bentos, Uruguay, with over 16 million cans exported in 1943.^[11] Today significant amounts of the global canned corned beef supply comes from South America. Approximately 80% of the global canned corned beef supply originates in Brazil.^[13]

Corned beef is a type of processed red meat. Red meat is a good source of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins B1, B2, B6, and B12.^[14] According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), processed meat causes cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.^[15] Strong evidence also links processed meat with higher risks of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.^[16] The World Cancer Research Fund recommends minimizing consumption of processed meats.^[17]

In North America, corned beef dishes are associated with traditional British and Irish cuisines.^[18]

Mark Kurlansky, in his book Salt, states that the Irish produced a salted beef around the Middle Ages that was the "forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef" and in the 17th century, the English named the Irish salted beef "corned beef".^[19]

Before the wave of 19th century Irish immigration to the United States, many ethnic Irish immigrants did not consume corned beef dishes. The popularity of corned beef compared to back bacon among the Irish immigrant population may have been due to corned beef being considered a luxury product in their native land, while it was cheap and readily available in the United States.^[11]

The Jewish population produced similar corned beef brisket, also smoking it into pastrami. Irish immigrants often purchased corned beef from Jewish butchers.^[11][20]

Canned corned beef has long been one of the standard meals included in military field ration packs globally, due to its simplicity and instant preparation. One example is the American Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) pack. Astronaut John Young sneaked a contraband corned beef sandwich on board Gemini 3, hiding it in a pocket of his spacesuit.^[21]

In the United States and Canada, corned beef is typically available in two forms: a cut of beef (usually brisket, but sometimes round or silverside) cured or pickled in a seasoned brine, or cooked and canned.

Corned beef is often purchased ready to eat in Jewish delicatessens. It is the key ingredient in the grilled Reuben sandwich, consisting of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island or Russian dressing on rye bread. Smoking corned beef, typically with a generally similar spice mix, produces smoked meat (or "smoked beef") such as pastrami or Montreal-style smoked meat.

Corned beef hashed with potatoes served with eggs is a common breakfast dish in the United States of America.

In both the United States and Canada, corned beef is sold in cans in minced form. It is also sold this way in Puerto Rico and Uruguay.

Multiple Caribbean nations have their own varied versions of canned corned beef as a dish, common in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Barbados, and elsewhere.^[22]

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Corned beef is known specifically as "salt beef" in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is sold in buckets with brine to preserve the beef and is not seasoned with spices. It is a staple product culturally in Newfoundland and Labrador, providing a source of meat during their long winters. It is commonly eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador as part of the local Jiggs dinner meal. It has been used in different meals locally, such as a Jiggs dinner poutine dish.

In the United States, consumption of corned beef is often associated with Saint Patrick's Day.^[23] Corned beef is not an Irish national dish, and the connection with Saint Patrick's Day specifically originates as part of Irish-American culture, and is often part of their celebrations in North America.^[24]

Corned beef was used as a substitute for bacon by Irish immigrants in the late 19th century.^[25] Corned beef and cabbage is the Irish-American variant of the Irish dish of bacon and cabbage. A similar dish is the New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef, cabbage, and root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, and potatoes, which is popular in New England and another similar dish, Jiggs dinner, is popular in parts of Atlantic Canada.

The appearance of corned beef in Irish cuisine dates to the 12th century in the poem Aislinge Meic Con Glinne or The Vision of MacConglinne.^[26] Within the text, it is described as a delicacy a king uses to purge himself of the "demon of gluttony". Cattle, valued as a bartering tool, were only eaten when no longer able to provide milk or to work. The corned beef as described in this text was a rare and valued dish, given the value and position of cattle within the culture, as well as the expense of salt, and was unrelated to the corned beef eaten today.^[27]

In the UK, "corned beef" refers to minced and canned salt beef. Unminced corned beef is referred to as salt beef.^[28]

In Israel, a canned corned beef called Loof (לוף [he]) was the traditional field ration of the Israel Defense Forces until the product's discontinuation in 2011. The name Loof derives from "a colloquially corrupt short form of 'meatloaf.'"^[29] Loof was developed by the IDF in the late 1940s as a kosher form of bully beef, while similar canned meats had earlier been an important component of relief packages sent to Europe and Palestine by Jewish organizations such as Hadassah.^[29]

In Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, colonialism by western powers brought with them something that would change Polynesian diets—canned goods, including the highly prized corned beef. Natural disasters brought in food aid from New Zealand, Australia, and the US, then world wars in the mid-20th century, foreign foods became a bigger part of daily diets while retaining ancestral foods like taro and coconuts.^[30] Both wet salt-brined beef and canned corned beef are differentiated. In Samoa, brined povi masima (lit. 'salted beef') or canned pīsupo (lit. "pea soup", general term for canned foods). In Tonga, corned (wet brine) masima or canned meats kapa are typical.

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Corned beef has also become a common dish in Hong Kong cuisine, though it has been heavily adapted in style and preparation to fit local tastes. It is often served with other "Western" fusion cuisine at cha chaan teng and other cheap restaurants catering to locals.

Along with other canned meats, canned corned beef is a popular breakfast staple in the Philippines.^[31][32] Corned beef is also known as carne norte (alternative spelling: karne norte) locally, literally translating to "northern meat" in Spanish; the term refers to Americans, whom Filipinos referred then as norteamericanos, just like the rest of Spain's colonies, where there is a differentiation between what is norteamericano (Canadian, American, Mexicano, what is centroamericano (Nicaraguense, Costarricense et al.), and what is sudamericano (Colombiano, Equatoriano, Paraguayo, et al.). The colonial mindset distinction then of what was norteamericano was countries north of the Viceroy's Road (Camino de Virreyes), the route used to transport goods from the Manila Galleon landing in the port of Acapulco overland for Havana via the port of Veracruz (and not the Rio Grande river in Texas today), thus centroamericano meant the other Spanish possessions south of Mexico City.

Corned beef, especially the Libby's brand, first became popular during the American colonial period of the Philippines (1901–1941) among the wealthy as a luxury food; they were advertised serving the corned beef cold and straight-from-the-can on to a bed of rice, or as patties in between bread. During World War II (1942–1945), American soldiers brought for themselves, and airdropped from the skies the same corned beef; it was a life-or-death commodity since the Japanese Imperial Army forcibly controlled all food in an effort to subvert any resistance against them.

After the war (1946 to present), corned beef gained far more popularity. It remains a staple in balikbayan boxes and on Filipino breakfast tables. The ordinary Filipino can afford them, and many brands have sprung up, including those manufactured by Century Pacific Food, CDO Foodsphere and San Miguel Food and Beverage, which are wholly owned by Filipinos and locally manufactured.^[31][32]

Philippine corned beef is typically made from shredded beef or buffalo meat, and is almost exclusively sold in cans. It is boiled, shredded, canned, and sold in supermarkets and grocery stores for mass consumption. It is usually served as the breakfast combination called "corned beef silog", in which corned beef is cooked as carne norte guisado (fried, mixed with onions, garlic, and often, finely cubed potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and/or cabbage), with a side of sinangag (garlic fried rice), and a fried egg.^[33][31][34] Another common way to eat corned beef is tortang carne norte (or corned beef omelet), in which corned beef is mixed with egg and fried.^[35][36] Corned beef is also used as a cheap meat ingredient in dishes like sopas and sinigang.^[37][38][39]

• Potted meat – Form of traditional food preservation
• Curing salt
• Cured fish

Mark Knopfler's song "Corned Beef City" from the album Privateering (2012)