Slovak Meats in English

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I am currently traveling and hiking through Slovakia, so in the meantime, I am posting a summary of translations of Slovak meat parts to English that Miro posted previously as a set of comments. I figured that having them all organized in one place will make it easier for you to find the right kind of meat for your next Slovak recipe using the meats found in the American supermarket.

It’s not easy match/translation as American cuts are a bit different and more detailed than Slovak cuts. There are groups of meats/cuts and they include more detailed cuts.

Beef

You can see this meet chart for detailed American beef cut (select for instance Angus Beef Chart 2007).

Predné a zadné mäso (front and back part of cow)
Predné mäso includes:
Krk = neck
vysoká rošteňka:
= chuck (including blade roast, chuck pot roast, chuck eye roast, short ribs, shoulder top blade steak, etc.)
= rib (including rib roast, ribeye steak, back ribs, etc.)
predná hruď a plece = brisket and fore shank
hruď s rebrom = short plate (including skirt steak and flank steak)
predná glejovka = shank cross cut, usualy used for a ground meat and stew meat.

Zadné mäso includes:
Nízka roštenka a sviečková:
= short loin (including top loin steak, T-bone and porthouse steak, tenderloin roast and steak or filet Mignon)
= sirloin (including sirloin and top sirloin steak, tri tip roast and steak)
stehno = round (including round roast and steak, bottom round steak, Eye round roast and steak, top round steak)
zadná glejovka = not used much except for a ground meat
bok bez kostí a bok s kosťou = flank and skirt

Pork

You will find a pork meet chart on the same site, after your scroll down to Pork Charts.

hlava – head, not used in a typical american cooking
krkovička = neck and shoulder butt
kare = loin (including chpos ribs, and roasts)
bôčik = side (including spareribs, slab and sliced bacon)
pliecko = picnic shoulder
panenská sviečkovica = tenderloin
lalok or podbradavička = not used in US cuts
predné kolienko = used mostly for smoked meat, aka smoked hocks
predná nožička = not used in the US except for smoked hocks
stehno = leg (including fresh and smoked ham, leg cutlets, and boneless ham roast)
chvôstik = tail not used much in American cooking
zadné kolienko a nozička = same as predné kolienko a nozička not used much in American cooking
šumkový výrez = part of leg especially boneless fresh ham

there are many details in pork meat that are usually not used in the US cooking. Aka, “vnútornosti” including heart, liver, kidney, brain, toque, stomach, etc. They are used in “zabíjačka food” not so known in the US. Some processed parts you can find in a specialty stores. Aka tlacenka known as head cheese in the US.

Veal

veal meat in the US is using just some premium cuts (chops, tenderloin, shoulder cuts and blade steaks, etc) and this is what you usually see:
krk = neck
kare s obličkou = veal chops and tenderloin
stehno = shoulder cuts
hruď = spare ribs
don’t forget some offal (vnútornosti) e.g., veal livers – telacia pecen is superior to beef liver, etc.

Lamb Meat

Here is jahnacie mäso (lamb), one of my favorite. Baranina (mutton) has the same cuts, the difference is that lamb is usually a few months old sheep. Mutton is 1 -2 years old sheep. In Slovak cooking lamb cuts are the same as veal cuts.

The chart for Lamb cuts is also on virtualweberbullet.com, below Pork Charts.

krk = neck and shoulder (including neck meat, shoulder whole, boneless shoulder, Saratoga roast, blade and arm chop)
kare s obličkou:
= rack – the front part (including crown roast, rib roast, rib chop and French rib chop)
= loin – rear part (including lion roast and strip, lion chops, double lion chops and tenderloin)
pliecko – predna noha = foreshank
hruď (stred a bok) = breast (including spareribs and riblets)
stehno – zadná noha = leg (including whole leg, short cut leg, center slice, american style roast, center leg roast, french style leg cuts (bone sticking out and cleaned of low grade meat), sirloin chop, top round)


Bio: Miro was born in December 1944 in Prague, though lived most of his live in central Slovakia while growing up. After finishing his master degree and postgraduate studies in systems engineering he worked in Systems Engineering Institute in Bratislava, doing work in software aspects of IT systems. He left Slovakia in 1978 and came to Washington DC area where he worked mostly for companies supporting the US government in IT areas. He retired in 2006 and lives in Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. Miro likes to cook and to follow many traditional recipes from Slovak cuisine.