Mexican Food Glossary

Also see http://lomexicano.com/blog/glossary

Achiote: Yucatan-style paste made from ground annatto seeds, spices and lime juice or vinegar.

Adobo: A smoky, chile-based sauce with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices.

Albondiga or albondigas: Meatball.

Al carbón: Meat (any type) cooked over charcoal or wood coals.

Al Pastor: Meat (any type) cooked over a spit Middle Eastern style. Tacos al Pastor Adobo Oven.

Anaheim: Long, thin green chile used in the USA to make chile rellenos. In New Mexico, when they ripen and turn bright red they're dried in ristras, or strands and used in sauces. Green chiles, chile california or chilaca.

Ancho: Dried poblano chile.

Annatto Seeds: Small seeds ground up and used in Yucatan's Achiote Paste.

Asada: Broiled, as in Carne Asada ( meat broiled over hot coals).

Agave: A native Mexican plant with broad, flat leaves that come to a point on the end and grow a single tall flower at maturity. The heart of the blue agave plant (piña) is used to make high quality tequila. Miel de Agave.

Barbacoa: Meat cooked in an underground pit, usually wrapped in banana or agave leaves.

Bolillo: Coarse, crispy white roll of bread in the shape of a bobbin.

Borracho: Literally, drunk. When used in a culinary sense, it denotes foods and sauces where a type of alcoholic beverage is an ingredient, such as beer or wine.

Burrito: Burritos consist of a filling, usually shredded or dried meat, often mixed with a chile sauce, wrapped in a large, thin flour tortilla.

Cajeta: A specialty of Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi. Confection of goat's milk simmered with sugar. Dulce de leche.

Carne: Meat, beef or pork.

Carne Asada: Broiled meat, usually skirt or flank steak cooked fast over hot coals.

Carnitas: A Mexican food specialty of Michoacán. Pork simmered in fruit juices and used in tacos and burritos.

Ceviche: Raw fish marinated in Mexican lime juice and mixed with tomatoes, onions, chiles and spices. Served as an appetizer.

Cerveza: Beer.

Chayote: A type of squash.

Chicharrones: Deep fried pork rinds.

Chilaquiles: Fried tortilla pieces topped with mild red sauce and cheese. Served as an appetizer or for breakfast.

Chile rellenos or Chiles rellenos: Ancho or Anaheim chiles, with skins removed, dipped in batter, stuffed with cheese or meat and covered with lightly spiced red sauce.

Chilorio: A meat filling from northern Mexico (Culiacan, Sinaloa) made with boiled, shredded pork that's fried with ground chiles and spices.

Chimichanga or chimichangas: Deep-fried, meat-filled burrito.

Chipotle or Chipotles: Dried, smoked jalapeño chile. Try Chipotles at Chipotle

Chorizo: Fresh, highly seasoned pork and beef sausage flavored with chiles and spices.

Cilantro: Corriander. An herb used all over Mexico for Mexican food seasoning.

Comida: Meal.

Conejo: Rabbit.

Cordero: Lamb.

Costillas: Ribs.

Cotija: An aged, crumbly white cheese.

Crema: Cream

Dulce: Sweet or candy.

Elote: Fresh corn.

Empanadas: Pastry turnover filled with spicy meat or fruit and sweets. Empanadas are very popular in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Spain.

Enchilada or Enchiladas: Lightly fried corn tortilla dipped in red sauce and stuffed with cheese or shredded chicken or beef.
Enchiladas consist of a corn tortilla that has been "softened" in hot oil and often dipped in a chile sauce, wrapped around a filling of either meat or cheese, then garnished with a little more sauce and cheese. Sonora style enchiladas are made by covering a very thick corn tortilla with heated chile sauce and cheese. (In Mexican-American cooking enchiladas are often made without the initial dipping in sauce and are heated after being topped with a large quantity of chile sauce and cheese, and sometimes sour cream, as well).

Epazote: A wild herb that grows all over North America. Used to flavor Mexican food soups and stews.

Escabeche: Mixture of oil, vinegar, herbs and seasonings used to pickle jalapeños and other Mexican foods.

Esquite: A corn based snack called esquite is made of Mexican corn kernels in a plastic cup and your choice of toppings: grated cheese, chile powder like Tajin, Lime Juice, salt and creme or Mayo - Mayonesa.

Fajita: Skirt steak. Usually associated with a taco or the strips of meat that go into the taco.

Flauta: Actually means flute. A flauta is a large flour tortilla rolled up tightly with chicken, pork, or beef, and cheese inside. It is then deep fried until crisp. Top with sour cream, a good mole sauce, and some onions. (Taquitos are the same thing as Flautas, but with corn tortillas.)

Frijoles: Beans (usually kidney, bayo, pinto or black).

Guacamole: Avocado mixture that is made from ripe avocados and lemon or limejuice, diced onions and tomato. Used liberally as a condiment in numerous Tex Mex dishes. Also, Dip served with tortilla chips of mashed avocado with onions, chiles, tomatoes, lime juice and spices.

Guajillo: Medium hot dried chile.

Gusanos de Maguey: Worms living in agave plants that are considered a delicacy when fried. Also found in bottles of mezcal to denote the particular type of agave plant.

Habanero: Hottest Mexican food chile pepper out there.

Harina: Flour.

Helado: Ice cream.

Horchata: Soft drink made by blending ground rice with water or juice and melon seeds.

Huitlacoche or Cuitlacoche: In Mexico, Huitlacoche or Cuitlacoche is a Mexican food delicacy to be savored. Also called corn smut, maize mushroom, Mexican truffle or Mexican caviar. The kernels have a smoky-sweet flavor.

Hueso: Bone.

Huevo: Egg.

Jalapeno or Jalapenos: Medium hot chile pepper. jalapeño peppers

Jícama: A crunchy, delicious white root, served sliced and sprinkled with lime and chile powder.

Langosta: Lobster.

Leche: Milk.

Leche quemada: Burnt milk. Also known as cajeta.

Lechuga: Lettuce.

Legumbre: Vegetable.

Licor: Liquor.

Maguey: Agave. Miel de Agave. Agave Nectar.

Mariscos: Seafood. If you like abalone try our abalone type shellfish from Royal Crown.

Masa: Dough of ground corn meal, lime and water used to make corn tortillas. Dough, usually referring to ground hominy. Tortillas are made from either freshly ground nixtamalized corn, or from a flour (masa harina) made from that corn. Masa harina is a fine as white wheat flour. Masa harina for tamales is a bit coarser, but still nothing like the coarseness of grits.

Menudo: Robust, medium spicy soup with tripe, hominy, onions and spices.

Mezcal: Distilled liquor made from juice of several types of agaves. Mescal.

Mojo de ajo: Cooked in garlic sauce.

Molcajete: Stone mortar used mostly to grind chiles for salsas. Buy your Molcajete here.

Mole: Complex dark sauce with chiles, nuts, spices, fruits, vegetables, chocolate and seasonings. Mole Poblano.

Mollete: The Mollete is a bolillo roll of bread that is toasted and smothered with refried beans, cheese and salsa.

Nixtamal: Dried corn kernels treated with cal - lime.

Nogada: Sauce made from ground walnuts to make chiles en nogada.

Nopalitos: Nopal or Nopales (prickly pear) cactus leaves chopped into pieces. Tender cactus. Buy your Nopalitos here at Nopalitos.

Pambazo: Pambazo is a Mexican dish made from special bread dipped in a red guajillo pepper sauce and filled with potato, chorizo, lettuce and cream. (Pambaso, Panvazo, Pamvaso).

Panela: Queso Panela is a fresh, semi-soft cheese made from whole unmilled cheese curds.

Papadzules: Dish from Yucatan of soft, rolled corn tortillas filled with varying ingredients and topped with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and tomato sauce.

Pasilla: Long, thin, almost black chile.

Pato: Duck.

Pavo: Turkey.

Pepitas: Pumkin seeds, unhulled. An ingredient for mole verde and pipian.

Piñones: Pine nuts. Pinones.

Pipian Sauce: Similar to a mole, made from ground pepitas (squash seeds or pumpkin seeds) and other nuts. (Pepian)

Poblano: Dark green, rounded fresh chile used for chile rellenos.

Pozole: Robust, medium spicy soup with pork or chicken, hominy, onions and spices. Also called posole.

Postre: Dessert.

Pulque: Fermented beverage using agave invented by the Mayans for medicinal purposes.

Quesadilla: Quesadillas are tortillas, usually corn but also flour, that are folded over a filling of cheese, sometimes with the addition of an epazote leaf, squash blossom or other ingredient, and cooked on a greased or ungreased griddle until the cheese is melted and the tortilla begins to become crisp. In some areas an uncooked corn tortilla is folded over the cheese and sealed like a turnover, then fried in oil until crisp

Rompope: Sweet, thick alcoholic beverage with vanilla and egg.

Salchicha: Sausage.

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, it is called "chile." If cooked and then bottled, it is called "picante"

Sangría: Spanish beverage made with brandy, wine, Controy (or Triple Sec), fruit juice and fresh fruits.

Sangrita: A favorite accompaniment to tequila made from orange juice, grenadine, chile powder and frequently, tomato juice.

Serrano: One of northern Mexico's favorite chiles. Small, green and very hot.

Sopa: Soup. Also called caldo or sopa.

Taco: Usually a fried corn tortilla, folded in half and filled with meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and salsa. Can also be served soft and filled with a variety of ingredients. Soft taco.

Tamale or Tamales: A corn husk (oja) stuffed with masa, meat or beans. Corn tortilla dough filled with meat, vegetables or fruit, wrapped up in a corn husk and steamed.

Taquito: Little taco made of corn tortilla filled with meat, rolled up and fried. A taquito is basically the same thing as flautas described above, but with corn instead of flour tortillas. Taquitos are also sometimes smaller than flautas and may be filled with different sauces before being deep-fried.

Tequila: World renowned liquor distilled from the juice of the blue agave, which only grows within 100 miles of Guadalajara.

Tiburón: Shark.

Tomatillo: Relative of the gooseberry family. Resembles a small green tomato. Very flavorful and used in many sauces.

Torta: Mexican food style sandwich on a bolillo.

Tortilla: Flat, thin, circular unleavened bread made of masa for corn tortillas or harina for flour tortillas. Most important item in Mexican cooking.

Tostada: Toasted. Specifically, toasted tortillas. Tostadas are flat fried corn tortillas, or little edible plates just waiting to be spread with refried beans and whatever else takes your fancy.

Vino: Wine.