Beef Cuts Diagram for French and Italian Recipes

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I created this beef cuts diagram to sorting out the cuts of beef jigsaw in French and Italian! My biggest challenge when cooking French or Italian meat dishes in a foreign country is buying the right cut of beef. While pork and lamb cuts are easier to recognize, it is not the same for beef cuts. Some pieces are universally known, while others are not.

Challenge of French and Italian meat dishes abroad

Shopping for meat when you have a recipe from another country is always a nightmare. Besides the difficulties in finding the right name, different countries cut the beef in different portions and sizes.

In England, they tend to use more generic names for cuts of Beef (usually larger), while the French, on the other hand, prefer to use smaller cuts and consequently have a wider variety of names, for example, the English Fillet in French becomes: Filet, Chateaubriands, Tournedos, Filets Mignon.

The same cuts of Beef are also sold for various types of dishes across the world, for example, cuts used for stews in one country are used for hamburgers in another.

I decided, therefore, to spend some time sorting out the names of the cuts along with their cooking methods, and created a beef cuts diagram that I can bring to the Supermarket with me.

Here I start with cuts for Barbecuing; the charts can be downloaded at the end of this post.

Beef cuts diagram for different types of steak

1. Fillet, Tenderloin (Eng.), Filet (Fr.), Filetto (It.): It is the prime and most renowned cut of beef, lean with light marbling. It is very tender as the muscle is completely inactive. As it has no fat, it does not have a strong flavour. The side closest to the leg is a less refined cut and is used for steaks. The Chateaubriand comes from the middle of the filet, while the Tournedos and the Filets Mignon come from the tail end. This cut requires a short cooking time.

2. Short Lion, Steak, T-Bone (Eng.), Cote (with bone) ,  Entrecotes (without bone) (Fr.), Lombata (It.), Roastbeef (It. Milan), Lombo (It. Rome), Trinca (It. Sicily) Located at the end of the ribs over the Filet, it is less tasty and tender than the filet. The famous Florentine Steak is where the Steak is cut with the Filet and the bone. It is a perfect cut for Barbecuing.

3. Rib (Eng.), Basse Cote (Fr.), Costata, Braciole, Costa (It.)
It is the muscle that covers the end of the rib cage and can be cut with or without the bone. It is very tender, with plenty of fat that gives the meat a lot of flavour when barbecued. This is the cut used for veal Milanese

The latest trend is to cut the slices leaving the whole rib bone clean of any fat. Here in Europe, this cut is called Tomahawk, named after its shape resembling the Indian Tomahawk. In the USA it is called Boned in Rib Chop or Cowboy Steak

4. Sirloin (Eng.), Faux Filet (Fr.), Lombata (It.), Roastbeef (It. Milan), Lombo (It. Rome), Trinca (It. Sicily). Situated above the rear end of the filet it is lean and has light marbling. An outer layer of creamy white fat makes it very tasty for Barbecueing. In Italy, it is cut together with the Short Lion and jointly called Lombata.

5. Top Sirloin , Topside (Eng.) Tende de Tranche, Poire, Merlan (Fr.), Fesa (It.), Scannello (It. Rome), Rosa (It. Milan) It is the round central piece of the leg. Lean and with little marbling, it can be cooked in many different ways such as barbecued: braised, pot-roast, roast or steak tartare.

6. Rump cover, Rumpsteak (Eng.), Rumsteak (Fr.), Scamone (It.), Pezza (It. Roma), Codata (It. Sicily) Called Picanha in Portuguese, it is one of the prime cuts in the Brazilian Churrasco. It is a very tender cut of beef, located at the top of the leg just before the tail.

In some breeds, this cut is covered by a large layer of fat, in the picture the Picanha from Aberdeen Angus breed. The fat melts while cooking, giving a fantastic flavour to the meat.

The cheapest cut of meat for the barbecue

7. Flank Skirt, Thin rib (Eng.), Bavette aloyau (Fr.), Pancia (It.), Scalfo (It. Milano), Spuntatura di lonzo (It. Roma) , Bavetta di lombo (It.) This is a less refined piece of meat and used to be reasonably priced. It is becoming more popular as it is used in well-known international recipes like Fajitas in TexMex, Fraldinha in the Brasilian Churrasco, Vacío in the Argentinean Asado, and in the Chinese Stir fry beef. As it is a stringy cut of meat full of flavour,  it should be marinated with stronger seasoning to soften it. Once cooked it should be sliced across the grain.

Beef cuts diagram for stews

The best cuts of beef to use in the stew are the cheaper cuts, usually well-worked muscles. Because they worked a lot, they are lean and tough but with a lot of connective tissues. Those tissues melt when cooked for a long time forming thick creamy gelatine.

In the chart below you can see where those cuts are located. They are called:

• 8 & 9 Shank in Italian Campanello or Muscolo, in French Jarret, Gîte
• 10 & 11 Round in Italian Girello or Controgirello, in French Semelle, Jumeau
• 12 Chuck in Italian Giovarro or Collo, in French Collier

If you want to know more about the difference among those cuts you can read an interesting article on Seriouseats.com : Stew Science: How to Choose the Best Cuts for Beef Stew.

Here are some recipes that use beef stew cuts:

1. Beef Pie With Marsala Sauce and Mushrooms
2. Beef daube provencal stew with red wine

I enjoy trying new cuts of beef and hope that these beef cuts diagrams will provide you with some new ideas.

If you want to buy different cuts of meat and you don’t speak the language, find my charts with names translated into French and Italian also for Cuts For Lamb, Pork, and What Are Calamari Squid Cuttlefish and Octopus.

If you are making any of the above recipes leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.