Illustration from Edna Ferber's Roast Beef Medium: The Business Adventures of Emma McChesney (1913)
"You remember what I told you about old stagers, and the roast beef diet? Well, that applies right through life. It's all very well to trifle with the little side-dishes at first, but there comes a time when you've got to quit fooling with the minced chicken, and the imitation lamb chops of this world, and settle down to plain, everyday, roast beef, medium." -- Edna Ferber, Roast Beef Medium: The Business Adventures of Emma McChesney (1913)