Copy of `Tex Mex - Mexican Food Glossary`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

Tex Mex - Mexican Food Glossary Category: Food and Drink > Mexican Food Date & country: 13/09/2007, USA Words: 326

Miel
(Mexican) Honey

Molcajete
(Mexican) A volcanic rock- stone mortar and pestle used in traditional Mexican cooking. Used to grind spices, corn, and vegetables.

Mole
(Mexican) Term used for a thick sauce or paste. A spicy rich traditional Mexican sauce that is usually served with poultry. The most common ingredients include nuts, seeds, spices, Mexican chocolate, and chiles. The most famous moles are Mole Poblano and Oaxaca's black mole.

Mora
(Mexican) 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.

Moros con cristianos
(Mexican) A nutritious rice dish made with black beans and garnished with fried plantain.

Naranja
(Mexican) Orange

Nixtamal
(Mexican) Hominy; Raw corn grains, soaked in lime, then ground to make a dough (masa) for tortillas, tamales and chalupas.

Nopales
(Mexican) Known as the 'prickly pear' cactus in America, this cactus is cleaned of spines, diced and used in many Mexican dishes. The cactus leaf looks like a large green paddle with spines. The fruit of the cactus called tuna can also be eaten. The cactus is usually boiled or grilled. Cooked cactus can be added to soups, stews, scrambled with eggs or used as taco filling.

Oja
(Mexican) Cornhusk, used to wrap tamales; sometimes called hoja.

Olla
(Mexican) Clay pot. A utensil in which beans are simmered.

Pan
(Mexican) Bread

Pan Dulce
(Mexican) Translated as 'sweet bread'. A sweet round dessert bread topped with fine red, yellow or brown colored sugar. A Mexican Christmas tradition.

Panucho
(Mexican) A Yucatecan dish of layered tortillas stuffed with beans.

Pastel
(Mexican) Cake.

Pay
(Mexican) Pie

Pepino
(Mexican) Cucumber

Picadillo
(Mexican) Meat hash

Picante
(Mexican) Hot to the taste buds

Pico de gallo
(Mexican) Translates to rooster's beak in Spanish. This is a relish of fruit topped with a sprinkle of chile.

Piloncillo
(Mexican) Brown sugar formed into a cone for marketing.

Pimienta
(Mexican) Black pepper

Piña
(Mexican) Pineapple

Pipián
(Mexican) A sauce made of pumpkin seed, chile and spices.

Poblano
(Mexican) A variety of chile

Pollo
(Mexican) Chicken

Posole
(Mexican) A soup made from roasted corn. A spicy soup made from beef or pork, chile, hominy and spices. Served with lemon slices, onion, oregano, avocado, and chile which you add to taste. Also served with warm tortillas.

Postre
(Mexican) Dessert

Puerco
(Mexican) Pork.

Quesadilla
(Mexican) Fried or grilled corn or wheat tortillas filled with cheese and a variety of fillings.

Queso
(Mexican) Cheese

Rábano
(Mexican) Radish

Rajas
(Mexican) Chili strips and onion slices in tomato sauce.

Refrescos
(Mexican) Soft drinks.

Relleno
(Mexican) Stuffed

Repollo
(Mexican) Cabbage

Ristra
(Mexican) String of dried red chiles.

Sal
(Mexican) 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.

Salchicha
(Mexican) Sausage

Salsa
(Mexican) 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
(Mexican) A drink made of red or white wine, sugar, oranges, lemons and lime.

Seco
(Mexican) Dry

Serrano Pepper
(Mexican) The serrano pepper is a very hot pepper, slightly hotter than a jalapeno pepper. Used often in salsa's and table sauces, the serrano chile pepper is thin skinned making it easy to work with (no need to remove the skin).

Sopa
(Mexican) Soup. Varieties include de aguacate (avocado), de fideo (chicken broth with noodles), de lima (chicken stock flavored with lemon).

Sopes
(Mexican) Miniature fried corn-dough bowls filled with beans and sauce and topped with cheese. Many varieties can be found.

Taco
(Mexican) A corn tortilla folded over a filling.

Tacos al carbon
(Mexican) Soft corn tortillas wrapped in around cooked meats.

Tamale (plural is tamales)
(Mexican) 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. A traditional Mexican Christmas dish.

Tatemar
(Mexican) Verb meaning to roast, peel and seed green chiles.

Té Caliente
(Mexican) Hot Tea.

Té Helado
(Mexican) Iced Tea.

Tejano
(Mexican) Spanish word meaning 'Texan'.

Tequila
(Mexican) Distilled liquor made from the agave, or century plant. Typically served in a shot glass or blended in margaritas or other cocktails.

Tomatillo
(Mexican) Looks like a tiny green tomato, actually a relative of the gooseberry family. Enclosed in a paper-like husk that is removed before cooking. Used ' in a variety of Mexican dishes and sauces to add an acidic flavor. Native to Mexico but can be found fresh or canned in many grocery stores.

Topopo
(Mexican) A salad shaped like a volcano or pyramid.

Torta
(Mexican) 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
(Mexican) A thin, flat bread made from wheat flour or corn masa.

Tortilla Press
(Mexican) A device used to flatten balls of masa (corn meal dough) into thin patties for tortillas.

Tostada
(Mexican) A fried flat corn tortilla topped with a layer of beans, shredded beef or chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, avocado and salsa.

Tripe
(Mexican) The stomach lining of a cow, pig or sheep. Must be cleaned for cooking. The primary ingredient used in menudo soup.

Uvas
(Mexican) Grapes.

Vainilla
(Mexican) Vanilla

Veracruzana
(Mexican) Fish cooked with tomatoes and onions.

Zanahoria
(Mexican) Carrot.

Achiote
(Mexican) Red paste made from annatto seeds.

Ajo
(Mexican) Garlic

Al Horno
(Mexican) Oven-baked

Albóndigas
(Mexican) Meatballs

Ancho
(Mexican) A Poblano chile 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.

Annatto
(Mexican) Small, dark red seed used by the Maya Indians to color and flavor food.

Antojito
(Mexican) An hors d'oeuvre or small snack food (appetizer)

Arroz
(Mexican) Rice

Asadero cheese
(Mexican) A white cow's milk cheese of Mexican origin: comes in braids, balls or round. Also known as Chihuahua and Oaxaca cheese.

Asar
(Mexican) To roast or broil

Ate
(Mexican) Thick fruit jelly, typically made of quince or guave and often served with cheese.

Azucar
(Mexican) Sugar

Barbacoa
(Mexican) Barbecued meat

Bizcochos
(Mexican) Sweet cakes and cookies often eaten for breakfast such as chilindrinas or campechanas.

Borracho
(Mexican) Cooked with wine; means drunk.

Buñuelo
(Mexican) Puffy, sweet, deep-fried pastry

Burrito-Burro
(Mexican) Large flour tortilla wrapped around a filling .

Cacahuatas
(Mexican) Peanuts

Cafe
(Mexican) Coffee.

Cajeta de Celaya
(Mexican) Fudge sauce made with goat's milk.

Calabaza
(Mexican) Squash, pumpkin

Caldo
(Mexican) Soup, broth .

Caliente
(Mexican) Hot to the touch (temperature)

Camarón
(Mexican) Shrimp

Canela
(Mexican) Cinnamon.

Capirotada
(Mexican) Spicy bread pudding, ade with raisins, fruit and cheese, served during Lent; means a little bit of everything

Carne
(Mexican) Meat, specifically beef

Carne a la Tampiqueña
(Mexican) Thin strips of beef, grilled.

Carnero
(Mexican) Lamb.

Carnitas
(Mexican) Shredded Pork

Cebolla
(Mexican) Onion .

Cerveza
(Mexican) Beer

Ceviche
(Mexican) Salad made of raw fish 'cooked' in limejuice combined with tomatoes, onions, spices, chiles, served with chips as an appetizer.

Chalupa
(Mexican) Boat shaped, fried corn tortillas, garnished with sauce, lettuce and onions.

Chicharrones
(Mexican) Deep fried pork rinds, a favorite snack in Mexico.

Chicos
(Mexican) A dish of parched corn cooked with pork.

Chilaquiles
(Mexican) Corn tortilla pieces marinated in chile, layered with a filling, sauce and cheese, and baked in a casserole .