The Cook’s Thesaurus
Apr 14th, 2008 by Bethany
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Does anyone but me struggle with knowing what the names on cuts of meat mean? I bought a roast on sale the other day labeled “USDA Choice Chuck Beef English Roast.” What in the world….? I learned a while back that “Choice” is a United States Department of Agriculture grade of meat determined by how much fat is in the meat, in other words it shows how tender and juicy your meat will be. You can check out a good explanation of meat grading here.
What about the rest of the description? Well, the same cut of meat can be called a bunch of things. In Googling how to cook my roast, I discovered a lovely site that may prove to solve my meat-labeling issues: The Cook’s Thesaurus. Google took me to a page within this site that provided a reasonable explanation to this (and other) food jargon issue. Here’s what it had to say about my roast:
The chuck section comes from the shoulder and neck of the beef, and it yields some of the most flavorful and economical cuts of meat. The downside is that these cuts tend to be tough and fatty, and they have more than their fair share of bone and gristle. It’s usually best to cook them slowly in a liquid.
shoulder roast = shoulder pot roast = English roast Notes: This boneless cut is located right behind the arm roast on the carcass. It’s rather tough, so it’s usually cooked in a liquid. Substitutes: arm roast OR bottom round OR cross rib roast
Isn’t that lovely?! Now I know how to cook it and what other names could be used for it. And if I ever want to cook it again and can’t find a store that sells it under the “English Roast” name, I’ll be able to ask a butcher for the equivalent or a substitute in an educated way.
Speaking of butchers, there’s nothing worse than talking to a butcher you don’t know about something neither of you may know anything about. I admit, I don’t know my meat-mongers at all. But I always wonder as I pass the meat counter whether they really know anything about meat (or cooking meat) beyond how to cut it. They seem to always be hiding out, nearly out of sight, behind the counter just hoping that no one will bug them. They also seem to usually be really short, skinny people who may or may not speak English. Probably my love for Fiddler on the Roof has tainted my ideal of “the great butcher” by making me think that a butcher has to be a big, muscular, dominant man with an impressive personal presence exuding expertise in the field of all things meaty. Why can’t I have a Lazar Wolf butcher? If you’ve never seen the movie, you can see Lazar Wolf at work about 2 minutes into this video:
Silly side note: Isn’t “thesaurus” a funny word? It’s like the name of a dinosaur. Or THE dinosaur. Hmmmm… 
Good morning Bethany,
I LOVED this post. Only a member of our family could find a way to throw musical theater into a discussion about cooking roasts! Hope you are doing well.
Love,
Marla
What about the butcher on So I Married an Axe Murderer? She’s good, and she may or may not murder with said axe to boot.