Re: Cuts of Meat

[nikad]

Here is some very useful info from my friend´s blog http://movingtoargentina.typepad.com/
Why Argentine Beef Tastes Different
The taste of Argentine beef is quite different from that produced in the United States - this is what makes it so special. The reason for this is Argentine cattle are grass fed, unlike the U.S. where they are finished on grain in feed lots. Although this produces a meat that is leaner and less fatty than cows from the U.S., it also gives it a distinctive flavor.
Also, the breed of cow makes a difference in how the meat tastes. There are more than twelve different breeds being raised in Argentina, but the most common references to breed or raza* specific meat will be Hereford and Black Angus, which you will pay a bit more money for. Otherwise you are probaly consuming some type of mezcla* or mixed race.
Age of Beef
The typical categories from youngest to oldest:
Peceto Ternera - veal round steak
Ternera - veal (the most tierna* or tender and usually the most expensive)
Vaquillona - slightly older
Novillito - young steer
Novillo - the most popular cut
Vaca - older beef
Guide to Cortes de Carne de Vaca* in Spanish and English
Aguja - Chuck Roast
Asado - Short Ribs, Roast Prime Rib
Bife Ancho - Prime Rib, Rib Eye Roast, Rib Eye Steaks
Bife Angosto - Porterhouse or Strip Steak
Bife a la Rueda - Round Steak
Bife de Alcatra - Sirloin Steak
Bife de Costilla (con lomo) -T-Bone Steaks
Bife de Chorizo - Sirloin Rump Steaks
Bife de Vacio - Flank Steak
Bola de Lomo - Sirloin Tip
Carnaza - Stew Beef
Carne Picada Comun - Ground Beef with Fat
Carne Picada Especial - Ground Beef with out Fat
Chinchulin - Lower Intestines
Chorizo - Sausage
Churrasco de Paleta - Pot Roast
Cogote - Neck
Colita de Cuadril - Rump Steak
Corazon - Heart
Costillas - Rib Roast
Cuadrada - Bottom Round
Cuadril - Rump Roast or Rump Steak
Entrana - Skirt Steak
Falda - Flank Steak
Higado - Liver
Lengua - Tongue
Lomo - Tenderloin
Marucha - Short Ribs
Matambre - Flank Steak
Milanesa - Minute Steak
Mollejas - Sweetbreads
Morcilla - Blood Sausage
Nalga - Beef Round for Stew
Osobuso - Osso Busco
Paleta (see also Churrasco de Paleta) - Pot Roast
Palomita - Shoulder Roast in Butterfly Cut
Peceto - Beef Round Steaks, Roast Eye of Round
Pecho - Brisket
Rabo - Oxtail
Rinones - Kidneys
Ros Bif - Roast Beef
Sesos - Brains
Tapa de Asado - Rib Cap Roast
Tira de Asado - Short Ribs
Tapa de Nalga - Cap of Round Roast
Tapa de Cuadril - Cap of Rump Roast
Tripa Gorda - Tripe
Ubre - Udder
Vacio (see also Bife de Vacio) - Flank Steak
Choosing the Right Cut of Beef
It's important to choose the right cut of beef for the type of cooking you plan to do. I found an excellent website that gives the recommended cooking style for the cut of beef. It's completely in Spanish, but it's a nice outline.
You can also use the following as a quick reference for typical cuts and typical cooking styles:
Best Choices for:
Asado: Asado, Bife de Lomo or Lomo, Bife de Chorizo, Vacio
Milanesas: Milanesa de Bola de Lomo, Milanesa de Lomo, Milanesa de Nalga
Roasting: Colita de Cuadril, Corazon de Cuadril, Lomo, Peceto
Steaks: Bife Angosto, Bife de Chorizo, Bife de Lomo
Stews: Bola de Lomo, Nalga, Rosbif, Tortugita
Stir Frys: Churrasco de CuadrilV

 

[Ernie]

Hello Nikad!
What an informative post. I will make sure I bring the list along the the restaurant next time I entertain friends from abroad! Whenever they asked me for English translations for these things, I was always at loss!
Not anymore.

Thank you!
Ernie

 

[nikad]

Hello Nikad!
What an informative post. I will make sure I bring the list along the the restaurant next time I entertain friends from abroad! Whenever they asked me for English translations for these things, I was always at loss!
Not anymore.

Thank you!
Ernie

Well, I always have this info handy because I usually have problems translating the cuts for my friends myself! I also find it pretty difficult with fish V

 

[Gaucho]

Fishface-- to add to the above excellent post, if you go into detail, Bife con Lomo is a T-bone steak. Also, Asado is the general word for barbeque, and Asado de Tira is the usual short-ribs, not to be confused with Asado al Asador which are much larger ribs and grilled on a cross (vertically) and not horizontally.

 

[Quinn]

Nikad,

Thank you so much. I just saved your list to my Evernote iphone app so I can have it on my at all times.


I was wondering if anyone had anything similar for pork.

I know many cuts would be the same as beef.

Just wondering if there is anything worth knowing regarding pork.

Thanks!

 

[nikad]

Nikad,

Thank you so much. I just saved your list to my Evernote iphone app so I can have it on my at all times.


I was wondering if anyone had anything similar for pork.

I know many cuts would be the same as beef.

Just wondering if there is anything worth knowing regarding pork.

Thanks!

You are welcome Hmm I will see if I can find pork, I commend myself to the Google Gods...

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Well, ternera meat is the softest but the taste is not so intense (always comparing to Argentinian meat).

Novillo is intermediate but tastier. For me this is the best choise always.

About milanesas, the best is to make them with peceto.

In the US the most common cattle is cebu, which is a more resistant cow from india but the meat quality is poor.

The cows here are grass fedeed and there is so much grass that they don´t need to walk, that´s why the meat is softer.

The other big difference is the way we cook it. I love to make asado and to cook it extremely slowly. When you cook the vacio for 5 hours, it is priceless. We never cook using fire, we wait until the wood coal is completely red, if this is still producing blue fire the meat will get this smoked ugly flavor. That´s ok if your meat is tasteless, otherwise is a sin.

If you add sea salt the day before to the meat, even better.

Regards

 

[Ries]

In the US the most common cattle is cebu, which is a more resistant cow from india but the meat quality is poor.

I am not sure who told you this, but its simply not true.

Cebu cattle in the USA are a very rare, novelty breed, and NOT the most common.

There is a type of cattle here called Brahma, or sometimes Brahman, that is a cross breed that had some Indian cattle in its ancestry, back in the late 1800's, but it is nothing like the Cebu from India. At this point, having been bred in the USA for 150 years with other types, it is a very distinct and different breed.

Most better beef, for eating, in the USA, would be the Black Angus, which is the most popular breed of beef cattle in the USA.
Other popular beef breeds here include Limosin, Hereford, Charolais, and Simmental. But there are something like 500 breeds of cattle in the US.


I live in a rural area when I am in the USA, and many of my neighbors raise cattle. NONE of them raise Cebu, and many of them do raise grass fed cattle. We have available many types of very high quality grass fed beef. It costs more than the standard feed lot variety, but it is available in my area in most better stores.

For instance, the parents of a child my son went to school with run this cattle raising operation-
http://www.skagitriverranch.com/
All of George's cows are Angus, and he had 20 or so of them grazing next to my house last year- and I saw them eating grass, I can vouch for it.
His beef is as tasty as any I have had in Argentina.

 

[ghost]

I am not sure who told you this, but its simply not true.

Cebu cattle in the USA are a very rare, novelty breed, and NOT the most common.

There is a type of cattle here called Brahma, or sometimes Brahman, that is a cross breed that had some Indian cattle in its ancestry, back in the late 1800's, but it is nothing like the Cebu from India. At this point, having been bred in the USA for 150 years with other types, it is a very distinct and different breed.

Most better beef, for eating, in the USA, would be the Black Angus, which is the most popular breed of beef cattle in the USA.
Other popular beef breeds here include Limosin, Hereford, Charolais, and Simmental. But there are something like 500 breeds of cattle in the US.


I live in a rural area when I am in the USA, and many of my neighbors raise cattle. NONE of them raise Cebu, and many of them do raise grass fed cattle. We have available many types of very high quality grass fed beef. It costs more than the standard feed lot variety, but it is available in my area in most better stores.

For instance, the parents of a child my son went to school with run this cattle raising operation-
http://www.skagitriverranch.com/
All of George's cows are Angus, and he had 20 or so of them grazing next to my house last year- and I saw them eating grass, I can vouch for it.
His beef is as tasty as any I have had in Argentina.

You may want to add that very little of Argentinas current herd is grass fed and hasn't been for some years. And where did this Cebu thing come from. As I drive across acres of farm land and have never seen one. Even my supermarket here sells only Black Angus. When I'm in Argentina I have to shop very carefully for good beef. [didn't used to be that way] Pity.

 

[MikeB12]

Where can you find grass fed beef? Is the beef at say Disco, Coto, etc all grain feed?