The Names of Cuts of Beef in Mexican Spanish

A Trip to the Carnicería

by Victoria Challancin

Shopping for meat can be daunting. This may come as a surprise to Americans who are accustomed to shopping in American grocery stores where everything is sanitized, tidy, clearly weighed, and labeled with familiar terms in a familiar language. Stray a bit from your familiar turf, however, and a whole new world could reveal itself. I learned over thirty years ago, when I left my carnivorous comfort zone and moved abroad, that, in fact, there might be serious reasons other than health concerns to become a vegetarian. And one trip to a "foreign" butcher shop just might push you over the edge.

Journeying through Afghanistan, where fly-encrusted fresh carcasses were hung in doorways and hacked on all day by butchers who sold their meat wrapped in newspaper, should have given me pause. It didn’t. I ate my way through every kebab house that placed itself in my path at mealtime throughout countries such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And when I moved to Abu Dhabi, where meat is killed by the humane practices prescribed by the Prophet Mohammad, I still didn’t flinch. Even in sophisticated Paris, where I lived with my cousin, a trip to the boucherie with its horse-head sign didn’t slow me down either. Even when chickens were purchased with their heads still attached and rabbits came unseparated from their furry feet to prove that they weren’t cats, my carnivorous habits persevered. Although these animals provided a unique challenge when faced with my one dull knife, I still managed. Mexico? My son’s favorite food is head tacos (tacos de cabeza) from a local food stall which displays it’s semi-bare, lewdly grinning heads all in a row—clearly a mark of pride over how many have been sold. And last Spring when I led two different groups of women through the souks of Morocco, I may have been the only person completely inured to the dripping animal heads placed enticingly on the counters of the colorful butcher shops.

But in the grand scheme of things, a chicken with its head is still obviously a chicken. A rabbit with its feet, as well as providing a built-in good-luck talisman, was familiar to me. A goat’s head? Well, ok. I’ve eaten worse. Goats' eyes, for example. Since my father and brothers were hunters, as were most of the males I knew in South Florida where I grew up, they provided our table with a constant supply of fresh meat. I understood the process. And though I have had to defend hunting practices as an adult whose consciousness has certainly undergone change, I grew up being accustomed to seeing freshly killed animals being prepared for dinner or for freezing. In fact, our chest freezers always were brimming with venison, quail, dove, rabbit, frog legs, turtle, and occasionally alligator. I cannot claim to have been removed from the process. My exposure was hardly sanitized.

So what happened over twenty years ago when I moved to Mexico? Was it the butchering process itself that was distasteful? Certainly no more so than was normal. Was the butcher himself not obliging? Never! Was it the meat itself? Of course, it did look substantially different, not remotely close to cuts I could then recognize, but it was still, after all, just meat. Was it the language? Well…it’s true that while my exceptional language skills allowed me to translate rather soon after my arrival such Spanish terms like T-bone, other cuts remained a mystery. Costillas I could handle; falda seemed obvious (but wasn’t); bistec sounded suspiciously like “beefsteak,” and though it didn’t look quite the same, I trusted that there was a connection between the two that I could believe in. But what on earth was diezmillo? Chambarete? Aguayón? And how was I going to explain to my helpful carnicero, who was so eager to accommodate, what it was that I wanted? Pointing to my shoulder or patting my belly when ordering seemed somehow inadequate. A crash course in “meat” Spanish was clearly necessary. Unfortunately, the Internet was not yet born and most books and charts were based on the Spanish from Spain, not Mexico, so the terms made little sense to either me or to my poor, obliging butcher. And now for those of my readers and students who have need of some help with their Mexican butcher or at the grocery store and for those of you who can’t understand your Mexican cookbooks, let me share what I have learned over the years. Let’s see if I can demystify the process of translating some basic cuts from English to Mexican Spanish. And let’s start with beef.

Understanding Cuts of Beef
Pre-cut meat in Mexico may look different than you are accustomed to seeing. While the basic cuts are pretty much the same, the way they are broken down may be different. Generally, Mexican butchers are extremely helpful and will cut meat to order, if you can explain exactly what you want. Mexican beef is not usually aged, almost never marbled, and usually what little fat there is, is removed. For this reason, meat that is to be grilled or cooked quickly, benefits from the marinating process. Larger cuts are generally braised or stewed. Because terminology may vary from region to region as well, a little knowledge of the animal itself or from what part the meat comes from, is very useful.
Because beef is muscle tissue, the cuts that come from frequently used muscles are logically tougher and generally require long, slow moist-heat cooking methods such as braising in liquid (braising, stewing, and boiling) to loosen and melt the connective tissues, a process which makes them tender. But not all connective tissue will become tender when cooked.

The two main components of connective tissue are collagen (white) and elastin (yellow). When a slow, moist cooking method is used, collagen melts and becomes gelatin-like. Elastin, on the other hand, only shrinks and becomes even harder when it cooks. For this reason, elastin should be removed before cooking.

The most exercised muscles, the toughest, are the chuck, brisket, round and shank. The tenderest cuts come from the least excercised muscles, such as the loin.

Toughest cuts:
Chuck: pot roast, stew meat, hamburger
Brisket: corned beef and barbecued beef
Round: (including top round, bottom round, eye of the round, and rump roast) Top round can be roasted (example: London broil), but the other cuts should be cooked using moist-heat methods. Sometimes, however, these cuts are roasted and served very thin, as in deli-style roast beef.
Shank, or leg: is best braised, stewed, or in stocks.

The short plate and flank constitute the cuts considered “medium tough,” or if you cup is half-full like mine, “medium tender.” Even though the muscle fiber is tough, these cuts still contain sufficient intramuscular fat to help maintain tenderness. These cuts can be grilled, but benefit from being marinated. Cutting them across the grain once they are cooked, also yields a more tender piece of meat.

Medium-tender cuts:
Short plate: skirt steak
Flank: flank and hanger steaks (good for Mexican fajitas)

The most delicate cuts of beef come from the rib, short loin, and sirloin. Cuts like rib steaks (also called delmonico or prime rib), rib eye steaks, (boneless), and rib roasts, all come from the rib. The sirloin provides a variety of steaks named from where they are cut from. These can be broiled, grilled, sautéed, or roasted.

The most delicate cuts:
Rib: rib steaks, rib eye steaks, rib roasts
Sirloin: sirloin, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, and tri-tip

The most tender cuts come form the short loin. From the larger side of the short loin we get porterhouse, T-bone, top loin, strip, New York strip, and shell steak. The smaller side provides the tenderloin or filet mignon. The loins can be cut into roasts or smaller steaks.

The most tender cuts:
Steaks: Porterhouse, T-bone, top loin, strip, New York strip, and shell
Roasts: tenderloin, filet mignon


A Few Tips for Cooking Beef
Amounts to buy: Allow 225g/8oz to 350g/12oz per person from a roast on the bone and 150g/6oz to 225g/8oz per person from boneless roasts. A steak weighing 125g/5oz to 225/8oz should be enough to satisfy most appetites.

Safe temperatures: A roast whose internal temperature reads 145F, is considered safe to eat. Ground meat is considered safe at 160F.

Medium rare: 145F
Medium: 160F
Well-done: 170F


A Glossary of Terms in English/Español
(Note: This program will not leave the following list in appropriate columns--sorry!)
Basic Terms:
English/Español

Beef carne de res
Ground beef carne molida or molida de res
Boneless deshuesada/o, pulpa, or en trozo
Very finely chopped picada
To shred deshebrar
Bone marrow tuétano
Meat for grilling carne para asar
Meat for shredding (for tacos) carne para deshebrar
Meat for stewing carne para guisar

Specific Cuts of Beef/Cortes de Res
I have amplified the basic chart provided by The Beef Retail group at http://www.beefretail.org/markSpanishLanguageBeefCutsChart.aspx
I have also given the most common cuts found in San Miguel de Allende, where I live. Do check it out though as the drawings should make everything clear.Chuck
Chuck Diezmillo or sometimes paleta (shoulder)
Chuck roast Paleta or diezmillo en trozo Chuck shoulder Bistec corazón de paleta deshusad
Chuck shoulder steak, boneless Bistec corazón de diezmilloNeck Pescuezo (used for broths or jugo de res)
Shoulder Paleta (used for chuck steaks and pot roasts)
Blade DiezmilloCross rib roast Diezmillo
Brisket Pecho
Stew meat/beef Res para guisar
Brisket Pecho Whole brisket Pecho entero Flat-cut brisket, boneless Pecho, corte plano, deshuesado
Shank Chambarete Foreshank or Cross-cut shank Chambarete de mano Rear shank Chambarete de mano
For Stock Copete
Loin Lomo
Short loin FileteTop loin steak Chuleta de filete Filet mignon FileteT-bone T-bone (yes,it is the same)
Soup bones Retazo con hueso o huesos para caldoPorterhouse Chulete de los lomos Tenderloin steak, pounded thin Sábana (i.e. "sheet")
Rib Entrecot Rib roast or steak Costillas Short ribs Agujas cortas
Flank Falda (of course falda means "skirt" in Spanish, but this is really a flank steak)
Plate Falda anteriorFlank Falda posteriorSkirt steak (from the diaphragm muscle) Arrachera
Sirloin AguayónSirloin steak Chuleta de aguayónSirloin tip roast Aguayón en trozo Top sirloin steak Bistec de aguayónTri-tip roast Empuje en trozoTri-tip steak Bistec de empuje
Round PiernaTop Round Steak Bistec de CentroRound Tip Steak, thin cut Milanesa de pulpa bolaRound tip roast Pulpa bola en trozoBottom round roast Pulpa contra en trozoEye round roast Cuete en trozoEye round steak Bistec de cuete
Ribs CostillasRib roast (small end, premium) Costillar Punta PequeñaRib steak, small end ChuletónRib Eye Roast, premium Costillar de primera, deshuesadoRib Eye Steak Rib Eye Steak (yes, it is the same)Rib steaks Costillas chuletasBack ribs Costillas traserasShort ribs Agujas cortas
Short Loin LomoTop loin (strip) steak, boneless Bistec de lomo, deshuesadoT-Bone steak T-bone steak (the same in Spanish)Porterhouse steak Porterhouse steakTenderloin roast, premium Filete en trozo, de primeraTenderloin steak Bistec de filete
Short Plate Agujas
Short ribs Agujas cortas
Skirt steak Arrachera
Round/Rump Roast Tapa
Top round TapaBottom round,bottom round, eye of round CueteTip roast, Tip steaks Bola or empuje
Other Cuts Otros CortesGround beef Carne molidaCubed steak Bistec suavizadoBeef for kebabs Cubos para brochetasStew beef Carne para guisarBeef for stir-fry Tiritas de carne

©Victoria Challancin.