Since caldos, or
stews, usually constitute a comedor's main dish, and stews are born from so many
different recipes, it's worthwhile to have the following list, which will be useful if
your stew tastes interesting and you ask what it is made of:
- achiote: annatto -- much-employed red dye from the
seeds of a tree, Bixa orellana
- ajo: garlic
- albahaca: basil
- arroz: rice
- apio: celery
- berenjena: eggplant
- calabaza: squash or pumpkin
- cebolla: onion
- chayote: a greenish, pear-shaped, sometimes
softly spiny squash
- chícharos: peas
- chilacayote: a green, spherical, baseball-size
squash
- chili: red or green chili pepper
- cilantro: coriander herb, Coriandrum sativum
- col: cabbage
- ejote: string bean
- elote: ear of sweet corn
- epazote: herb called "Mexican tea," Chenopodium ambrosioides
- frijoles: beans
- garbanzos: chickpeas
- haba: lima bean
- jitomate: tomato
- maíz: corn, or maize
- manteca: lard
- mantequilla: butter
- orégano: oregano
- papa: potato
- perejil: parsley
- pescado: fish
- pimienta: black pepper
- pollo: chicken
- puerco: pork
- res: beef
- queso: cheese
- sal: salt
- tomate: tomato
- zanahoria: carrot