What does carbonadoing mean?
Carbonadoing is the present participle of the now-rare culinary verb carbonado, which means to cut meat — typically beef or venison — into long, thin strips before grilling, roasting, or broiling it over coals. The technique helped meat cook evenly and quickly on spits and grills, making it popular in older European kitchens, especially those influenced by Spanish cooking. In extended use, carbonadoing could refer to the whole process of preparing and grilling meat in this fashion. Today the word is largely historical, encountered mainly in antique cookbooks and comprehensive dictionaries, though it retains a certain charm for food historians. Its etymology ties it to the same Latin root as carbon, reflecting the charcoal fires over which carbonadoed meat was traditionally cooked. For readers interested in culinary history, carbonadoing offers a vivid glimpse of how earlier generations prepared their cuts.
verb (present participle of carbonado)To cut (meat) into long strips or slices before grilling, roasting, or broiling it; by extension, to grill meat in this manner.
- To cut meat into long strips in preparation for grilling or roasting
- To grill, broil, or roast meat cut in this way
"The chef was carbonadoing a flank steak, slicing it into strips that would char quickly over open coals."
"The cook spent the morning carbonadoing venison for the spit."
"She learned carbonadoing from an old Spanish recipe book, cutting each slice thin so it crisped over the coals."
Before 'grilling' became the everyday word, English cooks spoke of carbonadoing their beef — an imported Spanish term that once meant slicing your dinner into ribbons before the fire ever touched it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of carbonadoing
Carbonadoing derives from the verb carbonado, borrowed in the late 16th century from Portuguese/Spanish carbonada, meaning grilled meat cooked over charcoal. The root is Latin carbo, meaning coal or charcoal, the same root behind carbon and carbonate. The word entered English cookery books during the Elizabethan era and remained in use through the following centuries before falling out of common kitchen parlance.
Related word forms
How carbonadoing is actually used
A rare, chiefly historical culinary term. It survives mostly in old cookbooks and dictionaries rather than modern kitchen vocabulary, where 'butterflying' or simply 'slicing and grilling' has replaced it.
Easily confused with carbonadoing
Carbonation is the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in a liquid, while carbonadoing is cutting and grilling strips of meat.