Diccionario

Aguacate - avocado
Ajo - garlic
Albóndigas - meatballs
Al horno - oven-baked
Ancho - a Poblano chile that has been dried and turned a black-red color; means wide
Anejo - aged or perfected with time
Antojito - an hors d'oeuvre or small snack food
Arroz - rice
Asar - to roast or broil
Barbacoa - barbecued meat
Borracho - cooked with wine, tequila or beer; means drunk
Buñuelo - puffy, sweet, deep-fried pastry
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
Carbon - grilled over charcoal
Carne - meat, specifically beef
Carne seca - dried beef jerky, shredded and spiced
Cazuela - a stew pot; at El Charro the name of a hearty beef soup of carne seca
Cebolla - onion
Cerveza - beer
Ceviche - salad made of fish ``cooked'' in lime juice
Chalupa - corn masa tart or boat, fried, then topped with meat, fish, beans or vegetables; means canoe
Chilaquiles - corn tortilla pieces covered with a chile or tomatillo based sauce and cheese, and baked in a casserole
Chile or Chili - they are both words that have reference to and mean "peppers"; however both can also have meanings attributed to meat based stews with peppers as an ingredient. Chili can also be a spice mixture that includes ground-dried peppers
Chili powder - commercially, the product made from ground red chiles, including a variety of other spices, sold in little cans and spelled with an ``i.'' El Charro does not use it.
Chimichanga - deep-fried burro; means thingamajig
Chorizo - spicy pork and beef sausage
Chuleta - chop or cutlet
Cilantro - coriander or Chinese parsley, which you either love or hate
Coco - coconut
Comal - heavy, round griddle for baking tortillas
Dos - number of margaritas that will definitely require a designated driver!!
Ejote - String bean
Elote - corn; sometimes helote
Empanada - turnover
Enchilada - a corn tortilla rolled around just about
anything, usually a meat, then topped with sauce and cheese and oven-baked
Enrollado - rolled
Ensalada - salad
Escabeche - pickled
Fideos - vermicelli; thin pasta
Fajitas - make your own tacos with grilled meats and soft tortillas
Flan - baked custard with caramel coating
Flauta - corn tortilla tightly rolled around a filling, then deep fried; means flute
Frijoles - beans, usually pinto
Gallina - hen
Garbanzo - chickpea
Gazpacho - cold, spicy tomato soup
Granada - pomegranate
Gringo - one of those North Americans, usually from Ohio or New York, who think they are the only ones, who have eaten real authentic Mexican food
Guacamole - mashed avocado salad or dip
Guajolote - in Mexico, turkey; pavo is turkey in other Spanish-speaking countries
Harina - wheat flour
Huevo - egg; also blanquillo
Jamón - ham
Jícama - a crisp, white, edible root
Juan's Beans - smashed pintos that are not re-refried in lard. Oven-baked to thicken and topped with jack cheese

Kahlúa - coffee-flavored liqueur made in Mexico
Lechuga - lettuce
Machaca - tender lean beef, also known as shredded beef, made from lightly seasoned roast
Maíz - corn
Mano - a piece of volcanic rock used with both hands to grind food against another rock; means hand
Manteca - lard
Mantequilla - butter
Margarita - tequila based cocktail invented in South Texas, made with orange liquors and lime-juice. Usually served in glass with salted rim.
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
Metate - slab of volcanic rock on three legs used for grinding corn. In the old days, the one in El Charro's kitchen was used to shred carne seca.
Miel - honey
Molcajete - volcanic rock shaped like a bowl in which food is ground
Mole - unsweetened chocolate and chile sauce; means paste or sauce or milled
Molinillo - hot chocolate beater, usually made of caned wood
Nachos - crisp tostitos baked with a good melting cheese on top
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 - corn husk, used to wrap tamales; sometimes hoja
Olla - clay pot; a utensil in which beans are simmered
Pappitas - our version consists of fried diced and seasoned potatoes served on top of enchilada sauce
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 chile
Pollo - chicken
Postre - dessert
Pozole - traditional soup made with a clear meat stock, peppers, tomatoes, hominy, pork or chicken
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
Sangría - a drink made of red wine, brandy, sugar, oranges, lemons and apples
Sangrita - a palate cleansing drink usually sipped after a shot of tequila. Made from fresh citrus juices, chiles and tomato juice
Shredded or Sauteed Chicken - Iguana Mia uses only 100% breast meat chicken, then we cook it up with black pepper, mild green chiles and a touch of onion.
Seco - dry
Sopa - soup
Suiza - "swiss" or with tomatillo and heavy cream sauce or white creamy cheeses.
Taco - a corn tortilla folded over a filling
Tamal (plural is tamales) - a corn husk stuffed with masa, meat or beans
Tatemar - verb meaning to roast, peel and seed green chiles
Tequila - distilled liquor made from agave, or century plant
Tex-Mex Beef - highly seasoned ground beef cooked with onions and originating in the American Southwest.
Topopo - a salad shaped like a volcano or pyramid
Tortilla - a thin, flat bread made from wheat flour or corn masa
Tostada - toasted; specifically toasted tortillas or flat fried corn tortilla topped with beans, cheeses and etc.
Tostitos - fried pieces of corn tortillas used for nachos, dipping into salsas or making chilaquiles
Verde - the color of Juan's Iguana!!
Vino - wine