 |
|
|
 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | July 2005 
Getting the Right Cut
 Vicky Cowal - The Herald Mexico
Several months ago I received an email from a U.S. reader asking me if I would write an article on names used in Mexico for cuts of beef. Sure, I said, understanding full well her confusion and frustration when she hungers for a favorite back-home dish and no dictionary will tell her the precise words. But I didn't know that it would take me weeks to find charts that would help her out of the predicament and I wanted to consult a few butchers to make sure that the English-Spanish words refer to exactly the same spot on the animal.
While beef is popular in the extensive cattle-raising northern part of Mexico, it lags far behind other meats and poultry in the rest of the country. All over Mexico there are plenty of restaurants in the big cities where good beef is served and supermarkets have an abundant supply, but it is really only for a special occasion when an animal is killed that beef is part of the lives of many other people in the nation.
Because beef appears to be actually preferred fresh rather than aged (it's also hard to age meat in the countryside where refrigeration can be a problem), it is often tough very tough, frankly. This means that it is cut and cooked in ways that are different from those in the United States, except in the north of Mexico where it is generally cut and prepared in the U.S. style.
Many parts are cut thin with the grain and then pounded to make them more tender (bistec , for example) and many are boiled first (falda , aguayón , chambarete ) and then added often shredded to stews or soups.
Two very popular beef dishes, generally eaten in a restaurant rather than at home, are carne asada a la tampiqueña and sabanas , both ideally thin cuts of fillet of beef although carne asada is sometimes prepared from a lesser cut.
To my mind the most flavorful and usually very tender cut, served in many restaurants but also great for home grilling, is falda or skirt steak (also called flank steak or arrachera which is a cut of beef above the tenderloin. It is the same cut as that used for fajitas in the north of Mexico. The north of Mexico also has thin dried beef jerky (machaca ) and they use it in many delicious dishes, including their great huevos con machaca .
The top quality cuts are available these days in better supermarkets in the big cities. They are generally referred to by their names in English, as you can see on the chart.
I have compiled this chart from a number of sources and I hope it will help my reader as well as many other cooks. Until you become familiar with the words, it would be useful to take it with you and ask your butcher for assistance.
There is one cut of beef that is very popular here but I find both tasteless and usually tough. It is cuete (round or rump) and I think it's to be avoided.
MOLE DE OLLA
This dish is not a real mole but more like a very hearty soup. It was served often during colonial times in Mexico and is said to have been inspired by the Spanish dish puchero .
- 3 pounds boneless lean beef cubes (empuje de res en trozos ) - 1 pound beef shank with bone (chambarete de res en trozos ) - 1/2 pound beef ribs (agujas cargadas ).
- 1 beef marrow bone (hueso de tuétano ).
- 8 cups water.
- 1 small white onion, quartered.
- 1 sprig epazote.
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed.
- 3 chiles anchos.
- 3 chiles pasillas.
- 3 ripe tomatoes.
- 1 small white onion, coarsely chopped.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
- 1 chayote, peeled and sliced thick.
- 2 ears tender corn, cut into fourths.
- 1/4 pound green beans.
- 1 pound zucchini, sliced thick.
Place the meat and bones in a large pot and cover with the water. Add the onion, epazote and garlic and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook, skimming off the foam, for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, toast the chiles for about 30 seconds over medium heat on a dry skillet. Remove the seeds and soak for 10 minutes in boiling water. Drain and place in a blender. Roast the tomatoes in the same skillet and add to the chiles along with the onion.
Add a little water and blend thoroughly. Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the purée and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the purée to the meat, season to taste with salt, and cook for 30 minutes.
Add the chayote and cook for 10 minutes. Add the corn, zucchini and green beans and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Serve with finely chopped onion and lime quarters on the side and, of course, tortillas. Makes 8-10 servings.
PUNTAS DE FILETE AL ALBAÑIL
- 2 pounds filet of beef, cut in small cubes.
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
- 1 large white onion, thinly sliced.
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked, washed and coarsely chopped.
- 5 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and cut in thin strips.
- 2 teaspoons chicken consomé granules.
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro.
- 1/4 pound panela cheese, sliced.
Dust the meat with the black pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat and brown lightly. Remove to a plate and add the onion to the skillet. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatillos and chiles, season with the granules and cook for 7-8 minutes or until the tomatillos are almost cooked. Add the meat and cook until the meat is tender, about 5-10 minutes.
Garnish with the chopped cilantro and panela cheese slices and eat with tortillas. Makes 6 servings.
Vicky Cowal is a weekly contributor to The Herald. VickyCowal@prodigy.net.mx |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us