Asado – it’s 🇦🇷 for BBQ mate

One thing for sure that Aussies and Argios have in common is our love for barbecues – asados here in Argentina. The idea of a get together with friends and family is something ingrained in us at an early age and essentially something that defines our cultures on the international stage. Asados are very different to what we are used to back home though. Firstly there are no gas grills here (I think that I have seen one in my 10 years of coming here) they are all charcoal – even in restaurants! Second the cuts of meat that you get here are also very different to what we have in Australia – they just cut the cow differently. Ok, some are the same e.g. rib eye (ojo de bife), eye fillet (lomo), others are similar but cut differently e.g. hangar / skirt (entraña). Third we just don’t see the (cow) offal (achuras) varieties that are eaten here at nearly every asado – chinchulines (intestines), mollejas (sweet breads), riñones (kidneys), morcilla (black pudding sausage). At best we might be able to get lamb sweet breads and kidneys from our butcher when in season. Let me tell you a well cooked molleja is awesome – you need to try this when you visit Argentina & my tip is to add some lemon juice just after it is served and still hot.

You still find heaps of small veggie, butcher & deli style shops in local suburbs. In a four block radius of where I am staying I can probably tell you of at least 3 to 4 of each. Yes, there are big supermarket chains here where people do a weekly shop, but most will still frequent these types of stores a few times a week. Carniceros are plentiful, but you need to find a good one (the quality of meat matters) and they are like when I was a kid as going to the butcher in Geelong with my mum. You order you meat cuts by weight then they skilfully cut and clean it for you to your specification. Argentinians calculate roughly 500g meat per person at an asado, 30% more if you are also serving cuts with bone.

Now you need the fuel for your fire. There is a huge carbon (charcoal) industry here and you can find bags pretty much everywhere you look – local stores, supermarkets, petrol stations all stock them. The type and the lump size is a personal preference; I’ve not debated this yet with anyone but I’m guessing that much like other things here everyone has their favourite and lengthy debates happen. Wood (leña) is also commonly sold at the same places, in bags, cut small enough to carry and not have to split at home. Santi tells me that there are two common types of wood, a high flame quick burning white wood and a slower burning red wood. You can mix both carbon and wood if you like – I’ve yet to hear this be frowned upon.

Time to go home and fire up the parrilla. This word has tricked many a tourist looking for a Argentinian grill restaurant – pronounced “parrisha” in Castellano. Parrilla’s come in all shapes and sizes, but basically they consist of an area to burn the fuel and a steel grill (usually round bar, but V shaped bars are becoming more common). Once you have hot embers you move them under the grill and put your meat on. You adjust the heat by the amount of embers you have in an area or by raising and lowering the grill (not all parrillas have this capability though). There is of course a huge amount of skill in being able to properly cook all the cuts of meat you have purchased for the not only the right length of time to achieve your desired finish (e.g. medium-rare) but also to serve the meat cuts in the correct order.

When it comes to Asados there is definitely an order in which Argentinians like to eat their meat. Bone cuts are always served last, cuts without out bone are therefore served first. Thin cuts that cook quickly (e.g. entraña) will always be served before thicker cuts (e.g. vacio, ojo de bife). If you have chorizo sausages they will come out before any meat cuts and similarly if provolone (cheese) is on the menu it will also precede any meat cuts.

I am by no means an expert (yet) but I’ve learned a lot about grilling the Argentinian way in my many visits here and on my own parrilla at home in Melbourne. Here are a few of my tips in no particular order.
1. Understand the cook times on your meat cuts as this will allow you to plan when to:
a) start your fire, b) when each cut needs to go on the grill, c) what time you will be likely serving the first course so you can let your friends know when to arrive.
2. Manage your fire – you never want to run out of charcoal / wood so make sure you buy enough.
3. Always keep an eye on the heat you put under your cuts as it can fall off over time. My rule of thumb with heat is that if you can’t hold your hand over the area for 5 seconds then it’s too hot.
4. Manage the space on your grill – you only have so much area so plan where your cuts will go and account for extras like provolone cheese, vegetables etc.
5. Don’t poke your meat with forks or other sharp things to check it as that allows juices to flow out and ultimately your meat will be dry when you serve it
6. Only turn your meat over when it becomes warm on top and only ever turn it over once. (You may want to leave cuts with bone longer depending on their thickness though).
7. Cooking vegetables on the grill or in the coals is tricky as they all have different cook times so try to get an idea of this before you start. Managing your coal with potatoes also on them can be pretty tricky.
8. Ask if people have special requests or dietary requirements / allergies before you start as you may need to separate or specially cook certain things.