Ajo
- Garlic
Albóndigas - Meatballs
Al Horno - Oven-baked
Ancho - A Poblano chilli that has been dried and
turned a black-red color; means wide. The most popular dried chile in
Mexico and the US. It’s dried poblamo chile and the smoky-sweet flavor
accents numerous dishes. Approx. 3”-4” long, dark, reddish brown,
sweetest of all the dried chiles and slightly fruity flavor
Antojito - An hors d'oeuvre or small snack food
Arroz - Rice
Asadero cheese - A white cow's milk cheese of
Mexican origin: comes in braids, balls or round. Also known as Chihuahua and
Oaxaca cheese.
Asar - To roast or broil
Barbacoa - Barbecued meat
Borracho - Cooked with wine; means drunk
Buñuelo - Puffy, sweet, deep-fried pastry
Burrito/Burro - Large flour tortilla wrapped around
a filling
Calabaza - Squash, pumpkin
Caldo - Soup, broth
Caliente - Hot to the touch (temperature)
Camarón - Shrimp
Canela -Cinnamon
Capirotada - Spicy bread pudding served during
Lent; means a little bit of everything
Carne - Meat, specifically beef
Carnitas - Shredded Pork
Cebolla - Onion
Cerveza - Beer
Ceviche - Salad made of raw fish "cooked"
in limejuice combined with tomatoes, onions, spices, chiles, served with chips
as an appetizer
Chalupa - Our special custard and fruit on a flaky
shell
Chicharrones - Deep fried pork rinds, a favorite
snack in Mexico
Chilaquiles - Corn tortilla pieces marinated in
chile, layered with a filling, sauce and cheese, and baked in a casserole
Chile con queso - A melted cheese dip seasoned with
mild green chilies. Served with tortilla chips
Chiles rellenos
Chilli con Carne- Translates to "chili with meat", diced or
ground beef, chilies and chili powder
Chili powder- Commercially, the product made from ground red chiles, including a
variety of other spices
Chimichanga - Deep-fried meat-filled burritos.
Chipotle - Ripened and smoked jalapeno. Fiery hot
with lasting smoky flavor
Chorizo - Spicy pork and beef sausage
Churro - Mexican specialty made of a
sweet-dough spiral, deep-fried, coated with cinnamon and sugar
Chuleta - Chop or cutlet
Cilantro - coriander or Chinese parsley. You
either love it or hate it. It is used extensively in Tex Mex and Mexican
Food cooking. This green, highly aromatic spice exudes a somewhat bitter
taste that is usually acquired over time. Fine chopped leaves are used as
a condiment or as an ingredient in dishes. The stems are chopped and used
in soups and beans. The dried cilantro herb is called cumin or comino.
The seed produced at full maturity is coriander
Coco - Coconut
Comal - Heavy, round griddle for baking tortillas
Ejote - String bean
Elote - Corn. Sometimes helote
Empanada -Turnover
Enchilada - A corn tortilla dipped in red chile
sauce, rolled around just about anything, then topped with sauce and cheese
Enrollado - Rolled
Ensalada - Salad
Escabeche - Pickled
Fajita - Skirt steak. Most people associate
"fajita" with a taco or the strips of meat that go into the taco.
Beef skirt steak comes from the outer covering of the breast near where the
brisket comes from. There are only 2 skirts per cow, a highly flavorful
cut of meat as a result of the fat membrane that ‘burns’ off when cooked
Farina - Wheat Flour
Fideos - Vermicelli. Thin pasta
Flan - Baked custard with caramel coating
Flauta - Beans, specifically pinto beans that are
grown
Gallina - Hen
Garbanzo - Chickpea
Gazpacho- Cold, spicy tomato and vegetable soup
Granada - Pomegranate
Guacamole- avocado mixture that is made from ripened avocados and lemon or
limejuice, diced onions and tomato, cilantro.
Guajolote - In Mexico, turkey; pavo is turkey in
other Spanish-speaking countries
Habanero - Mexico’s hottest. Delicate
looking green, yellow and orange "lanterns" are prized by the
Yucatecos for their hotter-than-heck fire. Green and crispest, orange are
softest. The special fruity flavor compliments fresh salsas made with
tropical fruits
Harina - Wheat flour
Huevo - Egg. Also blanquillo
Jalapeno - The most widely used fresh green (ripens
to red) chile in the US. Also, referred to as the Texas sweet pickle.
Averages 2" in length. The "hot" comes from the seed and
the membrane. It is the most used pepper in Tex Mex cooking with Serrano
pepper coming in 2nd. A great source of vitamin C. When ripened and
smoked, it becomes a chipotle chilli
Jamón - Ham
Jícama - A crisp, white, edible root
Kahlúa - Coffee-flavored liqueur made in Mexico
Lechuga - Lettuce
Maíz - Corn
Mano - A piece of volcanic rock used with both
hands to grind food against another rock. Means hand
Manteca - Lard
Mantequilla - Butter
Manzana - (Peron and rocolo chile) Fresh chile,
looks like a cross between a yellow bell pepper and a golden habanero.
Medium to hot at its peak. It has black seeds and the flower is purple.
Fruity flavor with a thin flesh
Margaritas - The national drink of Mexico, made
with Tequila, Controy and fresh lime juice served either blended with ice or on
the rocks in a salt-rimmed glass
Mariscos - Shellfish; Fish is pescado
Masa - Dough, usually referring to ground hominy,
called nixtamal
Menudo - Tripe soup; New Year's Day tradition
to ease hangovers
Miel - Honey
Molcajete - Volcanic rock shaped like a bowl in
which food is ground
Mole - Term used for a thick sauce or paste.
The classic mole is made with chiles, unsweetened chocolate, nuts, bananas and
chicken stock
Mora - A cordovan-colored chipotle with a
fruit-leather texture. This midsize Jalapeno is lightly smoked and often
used for canned chipotles in adobo. Mostly used in salsas and sauces
Naranja - Orange
Nixtamal - Hominy; Raw corn grains, soaked in
lime, then ground to make a dough (masa) for tortillas, tamales, chalupas
Nopales - Cactus pads cooked and used like okra
Oja - Cornhusk, used to wrap tamales; sometimes
hoja
Olla - Clay pot. A utensil in which beans are
simmered
Pan - Bread
Pepino - Cucumber
Picadillo - Meat hash
Picante - Hot to the taste buds
Piloncillo - Brown sugar formed into a cone for
marketing
Pimienta- Black pepper
Pipián - A sauce made of pumpkin seed, chile and
spices
Poblano - A variety of chilli
Pollo- Chicken
Postre - Dessert
Quesadilla - Grilled cheese sandwich made with a
tortilla
Queso - Cheese
Rábano - Radish
Relleno - Stuffed
Repollo - Cabbage
Ristra - String of dried red chiles
Sal - Salt "Sin sal" means without
salt, useful to know when ordering a tequila cocktail called a margarita, which
usually is served with its rim coated with salt
Salsa - Sauce Usually, refers to a
tomato-based condiment used to dip or to accent dishes. If the salsa is
uncooked, as in ,Pico De Gallo it is referred to as "salsa cruda."
If it is processed, in Tex Mex lingo, this is called "chile." If
cooked and then bottled, this is called "picante"
Sangría - A drink made of red or white wine,
sugar, oranges, lemons and lime
Seco - Dry
Sopa - Soup
Taco - A corn tortilla folded over a filling
Tamale (plural is tamales) - A corn husk stuffed
with masa, meat or beans. Masa (dough) that surrounds your choice of
filling, traditionally pork. The 5"-6" long and 1" thick
tamale is wrapped in a soaked cornhusk and steamed to cook dough
Tatemar - Verb meaning to roast, peel and seed
green chiles
Tejano - Spanish word meaning "Texan"
Tequila - Distilled liquor made from agave, or
century plant
Tomatillo - Looks like a tiny green tomato,
actually a relative of the gooseberry family. Used in salsa verde and in many
sauces
Topopo - A salad shaped like a volcano or pyramid
Torta - A Mexican sandwich made from bolillo (hard
Mexican roll) cut in half and stuffed with tomatoes, avocados or guacamole and
carne asada, shredded beef or chicken, cheese and salsa
Tortilla- A thin, flat bread made from wheat flour or corn masa