mageren

Mageren is a Dutch verb meaning to make something lean by removing fat or reducing fat content. The term is used in culinary, nutritional, and food-processing contexts, and its meaning ranges from trimming fat from meat to producing low-fat dairy products. The related adjective mager describes something lean.

In cooking and butchery, mageren refers to the preparation of meat by removing visible fat, skin, and connective tissue to produce leaner cuts or to improve texture and cooking characteristics. The process can occur before cooking, during trimming of portions, or as part of a larger processing step.

In dairy and other food products, fat content is lowered by various methods; products labeled as magere (or magere melk, magere kaas) indicate reduced fat compared with regular versions. The term is common in consumer labeling and nutrition guidance as part of efforts to reduce saturated fat intake.

Etymology and usage: mageren derives from mager, lean, with cognates in other Germanic languages. The verb is used both literally and figuratively: budgets, diets, and resources can be mageren, meaning to reduce or trim down.

See also: lean meat, low-fat diet, low-fat dairy, dieting, trimming in cooking.