The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PASTRAMI
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
A
S
T
R
A
M
I
More clues leading to the result PASTRAMI
- Done with butter, I'll make beef slices
- No more butter? Starter from Italy is meat
- Smoked beef I associated with former music academy?
- Meat from a deli’s former branches
- Finished with source of mutton, I will have some beef
- Former source of mutton I perceived as form of beef
- Sliced food, shortcake could I be?
- Gone with sheep and pig heart to make meat product
- Wrongly made out it’s Parma beef
- Smoked beef in one market clot picked up
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "beef" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case beef = pastrami.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PASTRAMI mean?
PASTRAMI noun- A seasoned smoked cut of beef. Traditionally, this is made from a navel cut.