Biscuit Bone or Brisket Bone? Meaning and Benefits

Biscuit bone is the Nigerian name for brisket bone: the soft, chewy bone and cartilage from a cow's chest that you find in assorted meat, stews and soups. Brisket is the proper butcher's word, but biscuit bone and brisket bone mean the same cut, so you're buying the same thing whichever name you use.

It's the piece everyone fights over in a pot of assorted meat, as long as whoever cooked it gave it enough time.

Is it biscuit bone or brisket bone?

Brisket bone is the correct name. Brisket is the cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of a cow, and the word has an old link to cartilage: it comes from the Middle English brusket, which goes back to the Old Norse brjósk, meaning cartilage. So the name has always described the chewy part you're after.

Biscuit bone is how many Nigerians say it. We haven't found a written record of how the change happened. The two words sound close, and that's as far as anyone can say for sure. Either way, ask for biscuit bone at a Nigerian butcher and you'll get brisket.

What is the meaning of brisket bone?

Brisket bone means the bone and cartilage inside the brisket cut. The brisket is made up mainly of two chest muscles, the superficial and deep pectorals, and it sits over the cow's breastbone (the sternum), the ribs and the costal cartilages that join the ribs to the breastbone. When you buy biscuit bone, you're buying pieces of that breastbone and cartilage with meat still attached.

Because these muscles help carry the animal's weight, the cut is full of connective tissue. That's why brisket starts out tough and needs long, slow cooking.

Brisket bone in the human body

Biscuit bone in the human body is your sternum, or breastbone, so you have a brisket bone too, in a sense. Your sternum is a flat, T-shaped bone at the centre and front of your chest, and cartilage connects it to your ribs so your chest can move each time you breathe. That rib cartilage is hyaline cartilage, which is made mostly of type II collagen. In a cow, the same breastbone and rib cartilage are what end up in the pot as biscuit bone.

What does biscuit bone give to the body?

Biscuit bone is two foods in one: the cartilage and the beef attached to it.

• The cartilage is built mostly from collagen, a protein, once you leave its water aside. When brisket cooks slowly, its collagen turns into gelatin, which is what makes the meat tender and gives your soup a fuller body.
• The meat is red meat. The NHS says red meat provides protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins, and meat is one of the main sources of vitamin B12 in the diet.

Keep the portion sensible. NHS guidance is that if you eat more than 90g of red or processed meat a day, you should cut down to 70g. And be wary of claims that biscuit bone strengthens your bones or joints; we haven't found research in people that shows eating it does that.

Is biscuit bone good for pregnancy?

Well-cooked biscuit bone can be part of a normal diet in pregnancy. The NHS says to avoid raw, undercooked or cured meat in pregnancy, because of a small risk of toxoplasmosis, which can cause miscarriage, and it says whole cuts of beef are fine once they're thoroughly cooked on the outside. Brisket that's been simmered until the cartilage is soft is well past that point. The NHS also says to avoid liver and liver products in pregnancy, because they're high in vitamin A, so leave liver out of your assorted meat for now.

How to cook biscuit bone so it's soft

Time is the whole trick. Brisket's connective tissue only softens with long, gentle cooking, so simmer it in a covered pot until the meat pulls away easily and the cartilage gives when you bite it. Rushing it on high heat leaves you with rubbery pieces nobody wants to chew. Because the bones flavour the liquid as they cook, they're at their best in dishes where you keep the stock, like pepper soup, stews and the soups in our guide to Nigerian soups.

Pate Hausa food with brisket bones

Our pate Hausa food recipe is a good place to use biscuit bone. This northern Nigerian one-pot porridge of cracked corn or rice cooks brisket bones with minced meat, assorted meat, locust beans, tomato, pepper and groundnut, then finishes with kenaf and sorrel leaves. The recipe's own advice is not to swap the brisket bones for a lean cut, because the marrow and connective tissue carry the depth of the pot.

Biscuit bone questions people ask

What is the real name of biscuit bone?

Brisket bone. It's the bone and cartilage from the brisket, the breast or lower chest of a cow.

Is biscuit bone the same as cartilage?

Partly. Biscuit bone is pieces of breastbone and the cartilage that joins it to the ribs, so it's a mix of soft bone and cartilage, usually with some meat attached.

Is biscuit bone good for the body?

It gives you protein from both the cartilage and the meat, plus the iron, zinc and B vitamins red meat provides. Eat it as part of a balanced diet and keep red meat portions moderate.

Why is my biscuit bone still hard?

It hasn't cooked long enough. Turn the heat down, cover the pot and keep simmering until the cartilage softens.