Possibly the best barbecue in the world . . . All you need to know about asado

If you visit Argentina the one thing you can be sure of is that you’ll be invited to an asado, especially if your trip includes a Sunday. The weekly barbecue is a ritual among Argentine families, not simply because it’s a convivial way to get together but because it’s the best possible way to enjoy the country’s fine meat. And I don’t just mean steak . . . Here’s how to recreate an authentic asado at home:

The meat
Ah, the meat. Is there any better? Certainly not so far as beef is concerned. Why? Well the animals are reared on the pampas, the flat, grassy alluvial plains between the base of the Andes and Buenos Aires, to the north, west and south of the city. “Each animal has the equivalent of five football pitches of grassland to roam around in so they move around a lot, getting constant exercise” says Malcolm Harris of Pampas Plains which imports Argentinian beef into the UK. “Because of the climate the animals spend almost all their life out of doors and don’t need need winter fattening. Fat doesn’t tend to accumulate but runs finely through the meat.”

Better still it’s healthy fat with a high concentration of omega 3 fatty acids because of the high mineral and salt content of the pampas grass. It also results in a more intense flavour, one reason why the meat tends not to be hung.

For asado the Argentinians use a much wider range of cuts than we would: matambre or flank, the meat over the ribs; bacio, the cut under the ribs, known as thin flank; skirt (entrana) and shortribs (known, when they’re grilled on their own as an asado de tira. “You almost never see ribeye on an Argentinian barbecue - it’s a restaurant cut” says Harris. Animal welfare standards are also high. There’s no routine medication and slaughterhouses tend to be close to the farms where the animals are reared.

Contrary to what you might think beef doesn’t dominate the barbecue. There are always fresh chorizo sausages (exceptionally good) and morcilla (blood sausage). Offal is much prized too - particularly crisp-grilled intestines (chinchulines - surprisingly tasty), sweetbreads (mollejas) and kidneys (rognones).

The fire
Like the Spanish, Argentinians tend to cook over wood or hardwood charcoal which imparts its own distinctive flavour to the meat. The fire is built up then pushed to the side so the meat cooks over indirect heat. A pile of embers is kept on the left hand side of the grill from which they pulled out as needed to maintain the right temperature. Building a fire is an art which is why most wineries have their own experienced ‘asador’ to do their asados.

The equipment
This again is distinctive. Most Argentinians use a V shaped grill called a parilla (pronounced pareeja - the double l is pronounced as j in Argentina).The design enables the fat to run down to a reservoir in the centre of the grill rather than spattering on the coals just under the meat and catching fire. Its other distinguishing feature is a chain mechanism so that you can raise and lower the meat as necessary depending on the heat of the fire. (You can buy them in this country but they’re expensive.)

The technique
In an authentic asado the meat, which should be at room temperature, is rarely marinated. The grill is oiled just enough so that the it doesn’t stick and placed straight on the grill. When bubbles of blood rise to the surface you turn it and lightly salt it. But only once. “You learn to prod it with your finger to see how tender it is” says Malcolm Harris. “Then you rest it.”

The meat is always cooked over an indirect heat and more slowly than in the UK. “You should never use a fierce heat but only the embers (braza)” says Diego Jacquet a London-based chef who runs asados at corporate and sporting events. The temperature is critical. “You need to be able to put your hand over the grill for seven seconds. If you can hold it there longer it’s not hot enough. If you have to move your hand away quicker it’s too hot. And we would never eat a steak blue like you do in England or France.”

It’s common to cook a whole piece of meat rather than individual steaks, though if the Argentines are using steaks they tend to cut them more thickly which helps to retain the juices in the meat. Another popular technique is to cook meat a la cruz where the whole animal is spreadeagled on the grill. “It’s very common for lamb, especially in Patagonia where they cook them for up to 7 hours” says Jacquet.

The salsas
Because the meat is not marinated it’s always served with an accompanying salsa, the most popular of which is chimichurri (below) a mixture of herbs, spices and oil though eveyone has their own recipe. “As every Argentine will tell you there are 100 different ways of making it” says Jacquet. Another popular salsa is salsa criolla which is based on chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar and olive oil.

The sides
The accompanying dishes are quite simple: a mixed salad of lettuce, onion and tomato (mixta), a tomato and onion salad and palmitos (palm hearts) are common. Potatoes don’t tend to feature heavily (why argentinian girls remain so enviably slim despite putting away vast quantitites of meat). Some serve baked potatoes in foil cooked in the fire or a mayonnaise-based potato salad but an equally popular accompaniment is humitas - a pure of corn cut off the cob and mixed with butter and masa (corn flour). And every barbecue should start with empanadas, those moreish little savoury pastries it's hard to stop eating . . .

You can order Argentine beef and grills online from Pampas Plains. If you want an asado for a big party Diego Jacquet of Zoilo catering can organise one for you.

Chimichurri salsa

Serves 4-6
150ml olive oil
75 ml red wine vinegar
1 rounded tsp dried oregano
A large handful of flat leaf parsley (about 25g), stalks removed and roughly chopped
1/2 -1 level tsp crushed chillies
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
150ml salmuera (salt water solution made from 1 1/4 tbsp sea salt dissolved in 150ml warm water and cooled)

Measure the ingredients for the salsa into a large screw-top jar, shake
well and refrigerate overnight. Bring it to room temperature and shake vigorously before serving. Drizzle over your steak

This article first appeared in the July 2009 issue of Decanter magazine

 

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