The Beefsteak by Harry Graham — Read

While Germans eat flesh that is said to be equine, / And Chinamen batten on birds' nests and dogs, / While Frenchmen with _vin ordinaire_ (such a weak wine! ) / Ingurgitate molluscs and frogs, / The Briton, old-fashioned, in language empassioned, / On underdone oxen demands to be fed; / His soul seems to glory in steaks that are gory, / He 'looks on the kine when they're red,' / And all his carnivorous cravings awake / When somebody happens to name 'The Beefsteak.'

'Tis years since the first of those chops began grilling, / Whose smell caused so many choice spirits to throng / Where wags would insist though 'the spirits were swilling, / The flesh was undoubtedly strong'! / When Harlequin Rich entertained in his kitchen / That circle which met round his sociable hearth, / Where kidneys were roasted and cheese could be toasted / By Johnson and Wilkes and Hogarth, / And by most of Great Britain's more notable wits / Whose counterparts nowadays dine at the Ritz.