Post originally by RJ Grady at 2005-06-06 14:19:46
Converted from Phorums BB System

Steak is a Northern European word. It refers to spit-roasting ("on a stake"). We do refer to some kinds of pork as steaks, such as ham steaks. I know that the old Romans disdained beef, whereas most of the world eats pigs, so I imagine it's a matter of a different vocabulary arising through common use.

In Spanish, the word for steak is "bistec." So a ham steak is "un bistec de hamon." Eating steaks on a regular basis is basically something that came about after the settling of the American west, the building of the railroad, and the replacement of the buffalo population by a huge cattle industry. And it started in America, which is still the most steak-eating place on Earth.