Argentina ranks fourth in countries with the highest annual meat consumption, but first in beef consumption.

The recession that hit this country for several years has resulted in a per capita beef consumption of 50.2 kilograms in 2020, marking a 2.2 percent decrease in a year. 

We have already addressed the Argentinian Asado in the past. Now, let’s delve into some famous Argentine cuts.

Entraña is the Italian diaphragm and the Brazilian fraldinha, but to be precise, once again, we need to use the U.S. nomenclature as different cuts can be obtained from the same piece derived from the animal’s belly.

In truth, the Entraña is the American skirt steak, precisely the Italian flank or lombatello, the junction of the animal’s ribcage with the end of its lung cavity.

The junction of the diaphragm with the belly occurs through the so-called large lombatello, corresponding to the American hanger steak, which has a wilder taste and a characteristic V shape compared to skirt steak. In Mexico, it is called arrachera.

Then there’s the Argentine vacio, the large flap in Italian and the American flap meat, while in Brazilian, it’s the pacù or aba de costela, a cut not widely used in Brazil.

If taken from the belly section, the small section is called flank steak or small flap.

This cut is particularly suitable for marinading.

See the image below to better understand the section divisions and how they’re called in Brazilian and Argentinian.

Lastly, there’s the Italian flank which is the American spider steak, found in the same area.
A cut located inside the hip bone, responsible for pelvic diaphragm movement.

In the video, the trimming practice is shown, which involves refining cuts by removing excess fat, cartilage, membranes, and undesired bone parts to obtain a more uniform piece of meat, improve appearance and cooking, facilitate marination, and achieve a tastier, more tender final result.