Corned beef seems to have originated in Ireland and Scotland, but was commonly used throughout the British Empire for the past 400 years. I assume the cooking and salting process makes it last much longer without going bad, which would make sense for long voyages.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 week ago
A traditional corned beef has potassium sulfate (saltpeter) which often had red dye in it, lending the meat a pink color. So it was also about making bad meat look better.