The 19 beef numbers, plus lamb and poultry, on a clickable drawing: what each cut is in American and British terms, how to ask for it in Hebrew, how to cook it, and the recipes on the blog that suit it.
The illustrated guide
Nineteen numbers for beef, names borrowed from Yiddish, German and Argentine Spanish, and a counter where everything moves fast. Click a cut to learn what it is in American and British terms, how to ask for it in Hebrew, how to cook it, and which recipes on the blog suit it.
At the counter in Israel you do not ask for “chuck roast”, you ask for “a five”, and the words you overhear (ripen, shpundra, asado, polkeh) came over from Warsaw, Budapest or Buenos Aires. This guide translates both ways: from the number to the American or British cut, and from the recipe you are holding to the number to ask for.
Click the drawing, or open counter mode on your phone, standing in front of the display.
The map
Numbers run from the front (1 to 10) to the back (11 to 19). Tap a cut on the drawing or in the list.
Hover or tap a number.
Swipe the list to see every number
Dots rate tenderness for quick cooking and fat content, out of four. The ₪ signs place the price relative to the other cuts of the same animal, not in shekels: prices move, the gaps between cuts much less. “Forequarter” and “hindquarter” refer to kashrut, explained further down.
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Good to know
Leviticus forbids the sciatic nerve (gid hanasheh) and certain fats (chelev), both in the hindquarter. Removing them is called nikkur (ניקור): specialist work, slow and costly. In the US and the UK almost nobody does it, which is why kosher beef there is forequarter only. In Israel, menakrim trained by the Rabbanut do it, and that is why you can find kosher strip loin, tenderloin, rump and topside here.
Three practical consequences. Numbers 11 to 19 cost more, because nikkur costs and the Rabbanut only allows it under supervision. You will find them mostly in the fresh section, rarely frozen. And most mehadrin supervisions (Badatz, Eda Charedit…) sell only the forequarter: if your standard is strict, the counter stops at 10. When in doubt ask “zeh menukar?” (זה מנוקר?), “has it had nikkur?”, and read the label.
Translate a recipe
American and British recipes speak in cuts, the Israeli butcher in numbers. Here is the match, dish by dish; the first number is the one I buy most often.
Chuck roast for softness, shoulder clod for cubes that hold their shape, shank for body.
Number 5 is the Israeli roast. Ask for it tied (קשור).
Add marrow bones (עצמות מח) and a piece of oxtail (זנב).
Rib eye for fat, strip for balance, rump for price, tenderloin for tenderness.
Strip loin for a festive roast beef, topside for a lean, economical one.
Eye of round (19) is perfect for carpaccio: even, lean, it slices thin.
At least twenty percent fat. Say “tachun pa’am achat”, ground once.
Or ground turkey thigh (הודו אדום), far cheaper.
Sliced with the bone, four centimeters thick: “parus im ha’etzem”.
Brisket (3) remains the king of pulled beef.
In one piece, with the fat: “chaticha achat, im hashuman”.
Sliced very thin against the grain, marinated ten minutes in soy sauce and cornstarch.
Topside sliced thin: “kaf, parus dak”.
Bone-in, long covered cooking then caramelizing.
Neck makes the best broth.
In עגל חלב (milk-fed veal), otherwise the meat will be red.
Lamb shoulder replaces the leg, rarely kosher in Israel.
Whole and “parpar” for a flat roast, or leg quarters.
Boneless thighs stay juicy even well done.
Talking to the butcher
No need for perfect Hebrew: these few phrases, pronounced as written, are enough to get exactly the cut you need. The button reads the phrase out loud when your device has a Hebrew voice.
At the counter
A screen built to be read standing up, between two customers: type a number or a word, in English or Hebrew, and the answer shows up big. The screen stays on.
| # | English | Hebrew | Cooking | What it does best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | entrecôte, Delmonico, bone-in rib steak | אנטריקוט Antrikot | Grill, Roast | A thick steak seared in a pan or on the grill, a bone-in rib roast for a big table, a festive roast beef. |
| 2 | chuck roll, blade roast | צלעות Tzla’ot | Braise, Ground, Soup | Goulash, Sunday stew, and meatballs that stay juicy: the tastiest ground beef at the counter. |
| 3 | point and flat together | חזה Chazeh | Braise, Roast, Soup, Ground | Braised brisket for hours, pulled beef, pot-au-feu, homemade corned beef and pastrami. |
| 4 | center shoulder, silver tip roast | כתף מרכזי Katef merkazi | Braise, Roast, Ground, Soup | Beef bourguignon, pot roast, the Friday braise, and lean ground beef. |
| 5 | the Shabbat roast | צלי כתף Tzli katef | Braise, Roast | The Shabbat roast par excellence, braised with onions or mushrooms: it slices neatly and stays moist reheated. |
| 6 | mock tender, false fillet | פילה מדומה Fileh medumeh | Roast, Braise, Grill | A pot roast that slices cleanly, or thin, well-marinated steaks. |
| 7 | chuck cover, sometimes sold as London broil | מכסה הצלע Michseh hatzela | Ground, Braise | Ground beef for kebabs, arayes and burgers, pulled beef, a long-simmered bolognese. |
| 8 | shin, osso buco | שריר הזרוע Shrir hazroa | Soup, Braise | Osso buco in bone-in slices, cholent, pot-au-feu, a soup that sets into jelly. |
| 9 | asado | קשתית Kashtit, shpundra | Roast, Braise, Soup | Slow-roasted asado, cholent, braised ribs in barbecue sauce. |
| 10 | צוואר Tzavar | Braise, Soup, Ground | North African stews, mloukhia, pkeila, couscous broth, ground beef. | |
| 11 | New York strip, porterhouse side | סינטה Sinta | Grill, Roast, Raw | Steaks, pink roast beef, stir-fried beef strips. |
| 12 | filet mignon, chateaubriand | פילה Fileh | Grill, Raw, Roast | Tournedos, tataki, carpaccio, beef Wellington. |
| 13 | its tip is the picanha (שפיץ שייטל) | שייטל Shaytel | Grill, Roast, Raw | Steaks, skewers, schnitzel, roast beef, carpaccio. The tip, with its fat cap, on the grill: that is picanha. |
| 14 | thick flank, round tip | אווזית Avazit | Roast, Braise | A pot roast that slices cleanly, lean stew cubes, fondue bourguignonne. |
| 15 | outside round | צ'אך Chuck, yarcha | Braise, Roast | Pot roast, braised beef, pot-au-feu. Leave the thin fat cap on, it melts as it cooks. |
| 16 | top round, beef schnitzel | כף Kaf | Grill, Roast, Raw | Beef schnitzel and cutlets, thin steaks, roast beef, carpaccio, stir-fries. |
| 17 | thin flank | פלדה Palda | Braise, Soup, Ground | Soup, pot-au-feu, fatty ground beef for kefta, stuffed roulade. |
| 18 | leg, shin | שריר אחורי Shrir achori | Soup, Braise | Pot-au-feu, cholent, osso buco, soup. |
| 19 | Weissbraten, silverside eye | וייסבראטן Weissbraten | Braise, Roast, Raw | Pot roast, braised beef, and thanks to its even shape, carpaccio and tartare. |
| · | לחי Lechi, basar rosh | Braise, Soup | Pkeila, loubia, mloukhia, cheeks with cumin: gelatinous, it melts after three hours. | |
| · | זנב Zanav | Soup, Braise | Pot-au-feu, daube, soup: it gives body to anything that simmers. | |
| · | לשון Lashon | Soup, Braise | Poached two hours then peeled, in a sharp sauce or cold in slices with vinaigrette. | |
| · | עצם מח Etzem moach | Soup, Roast | Pot-au-feu, broth, cholent, or roasted and spread on toast. | |
| · | נתח קצבים Netach katzavim | Grill | Seared very hard, rare, sliced against the grain: the bistro steak. |
| # | English | Hebrew | Cooking | What it does best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| · | צוואר טלה Tzavar taleh | Braise, Soup | Tagines, couscous, spring stews. | |
| · | Israel’s leg of lamb | כתף טלה Katef taleh | Roast, Braise | Roasted four hours at low temperature, confit with herbs and garlic, as a mechoui: it falls apart with a spoon. |
| · | צלעות טלה Tzla’ot taleh | Grill, Roast | Grilled chops, a herb-crusted rack roasted pink. | |
| · | חזה טלה Chazeh taleh | Roast, Braise | Slow-roasted then grilled, or braised with beans. | |
| · | שריר טלה Shrir taleh | Braise, Roast | Braised shanks, lamb osso buco, one per person. | |
| · | אוכף Ukaf | Roast, Grill | Roasted pink, in medallions. | |
| · | שוק טלה Shok taleh | Roast | The Sunday roast leg. In Israel you take the shoulder, and you lose nothing. | |
| · | טלה טחון Taleh tachun | Grill, Ground | Kebabs, kefta, arayes, moussaka. |
| # | English | Hebrew | Cooking | What it does best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| · | cutlet: שניצל | חזה עוף Chazeh of | Grill, Roast, Ground | Breaded cutlets, nuggets, stir-fried chicken, poached breast for a salad. |
| · | Israel’s favorite cut | פרגית Pargit | Grill, Braise, Roast | Barbecue, skewers, homemade shawarma, braises with onions: juicy even overcooked. |
| · | ירכיים Yerechayim | Roast, Braise | Roasted with crisp skin, or in a tagine with olives. | |
| · | שוקיים Shokayim | Roast, Grill | Roasted, caramelized with onions, fried: the kids’ cut. | |
| · | כרעיים Kra’ayim | Roast, Braise | Friday-night chicken roasted with onions; confit legs; pastilla. | |
| · | כנפיים Knafayim | Grill, Roast | On the barbecue, glazed in the oven, in the soup pot. | |
| · | עוף שלם Of shalem | Roast, Soup | Roast chicken with herbs, chicken caramelized with onions, the Friday soup. | |
| · | bones for the soup | שלד עוף Sheled of | Soup | The Friday chicken soup, matzo ball soup, the base of sauces. |
| · | כבד עוף Kaved of | Grill | Pan-fried with caramelized onions, as chopped liver, over mashed potatoes. | |
| · | לבבות, קורקבנים Levavot, kurkevanim | Grill, Braise | Skewered on the barbecue, or slowly confit in oil. | |
| · | הודו Hodu | Ground, Roast, Braise | Turkey meatballs, light bolognese, turkey pastrami, shawarma. | |
| · | ברווז, אווז Barvaz, avaz | Grill, Roast, Braise | Pink duck breast, home-cured duck breast, confit legs, the fat for roast potatoes. |
Veal
In Israel the word עגל (egel) means a young, red-meat animal: that is what you get when you ask for “beef”. For milk-fed, pale veal, ask for עגל חלב (egel chalav) or עגל צעיר (egel tza’ir). The numbers are the same: a blanquette uses milk-fed veal shoulder (4 or 5 in עגל חלב), veal chops come from 1, osso buco from 8.
A bit of history
Open a butcher shop in Tel Aviv in 1950: the butcher from Warsaw says ripen, the one from Budapest spondera, the one from Baghdad has an Arabic word, the one from Salonika a Ladino word, and the customer from Casablanca understands none of them. To get everyone on the same page, the Israeli beef cutting scheme was standardized into nineteen numbered cuts, from front to back. The number became the common language of the counter: you do not ask for “chuck roast”, you ask for “a five”.
The names still carry the trace of the immigrations. ריפען (ripen, the chuck) and וייסבראטן (Weißbraten, the eye of round) come from German and Yiddish; שפונדרה (shpundra) from the German Spannrippe, via Hungary; אסאדו from the Argentine barbecue; אנטריקוט and פילה from French; סינטה from the Italian scinta. As for שייטל, it is the same word as the wig worn by Orthodox women, because the rump sits on the hip like a cap.
Questions I get asked
Number 5, צלי כתף, the chuck roast: that is literally its name, “shoulder roast”. Braised with onions the day before, sliced cold and reheated in its juices, it never fails. Number 4 (shoulder clod) is a bit leaner and cheaper, number 6 (chuck tender) slices more prettily.
Because it is slaughtered young, at one or two years: a young, red-meat animal, not milk-fed veal. Real veal, pale, is called עגל חלב (egel chalav) and has to be ordered. The numbers are the same for both.
The forequarter is everywhere frozen, often imported and cheap: perfect for anything that braises. The hindquarter (11 to 19), offal and lamb are mostly in the fresh section. Defrost overnight in the fridge, never in warm water.
By having it ground in front of you: a mix of rib cover (7) or chuck (2) for flavor, and shoulder clod (4) for structure. Ask for “tachun pa’am achat”, ground once, for burgers and kebabs that stay juicy. For fine meatballs, twice.
“Roast”, meaning a cut to be cooked whole and slowly, in a pot or in the oven: צלי כתף (5), צלי קדירה (pot roast). It is not a roast beef to serve pink.
Hanger and skirt (the diaphragm) are called נתח קצבים, “the butcher’s cut”, and you have to order them. Flank steak in the American sense has no number of its own: ask for flank (17) for a braising cut, or rump (13) sliced thin for a long-grained steak.
Because they come from the hindquarter, which has to go through nikkur, specialist work, and because they are small: a tenderloin weighs two kilos on a three-hundred-kilo animal. Topside (16) and rump (13) give very honorable steaks for much less than 12.
Yes for the nineteen main cuts, from the supermarket to the neighborhood butcher. Nicknames change from one butcher to the next (ripen, shpundra, asado, polkeh…), which is why the number is the safe bet.
Support the blog
The guide stays free. The butcher card is its pocket version: one A4 sheet, both sides, that folds into a wallet, with the numbered map, what to say to the butcher, the recipe-to-number matches and a lock-screen wallpaper for your phone. Every new version is sent to you for free.
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