Asado Christmas

This past week was one of firsts for me. The apocalypse came and went, failing to meet most critics expectations, a sweltering Christmas, more reminiscent of fourth of July, has passed with good cheer, I scheduled my first work this week, and I prepared my first meal for friends in a foreign country. All in all an active, fun filled week, hardly reminiscent of the cold, snowy holidays I am familiar with in the wintry north.

I thought I would take this post to discuss the Argentine tradition of asado, a style of barbecue that is as much a staple of the holidays here in Argentina as barbecue on 4th of July or turkey at Christmas in the US. Fortunately for me I had the opportunity to try asado for the first time on Christmas eve, which is when Argentines typically hold the celebratory Christmas feast. The day before all the fiestas commenced, a friend of mine invited me to his place for the Christmas celebration. Since I would have otherwise spent Christmas alone in the apartment with Titan I could hardly turn down such an offer.

Boy was I in for a treat! To tell the truth Christmas here has more similarities to the fourth of July than to Christmas in the states. Everyone barbecues, the weather is hot and humid, and fireworks go off at midnight, lighting up the Buenos Aires skyline with beautiful reds, golds, and blues, and of course accompanied by a thunderous roar.

But my favorite part was definitely the asado. Here is a photo I took of my friend's parilla (Argentine style grill for asado).

Unlike in the states, where a barbecue will seldom consist of more than burgers, a few sausages, hot dogs, and sometimes a steak or two, the parilla is packed with a variety of enormous slabs of meat, sausages, and intestines. All the meat in the photo above was for five people. Yes, just five of us! The first to come off the grill was the chorizo, a Spanish style sausage that is a staple for almost all asados. You can also find chorizo as a typical snack food sold by vendors throughout the city in little sandwiches called choripan (chorizo with bread). The second delectable food to come off the grill was the asado, the slab of short ribs.

Both the chorizo and the asado, and most of the other meats grilled, could be accompanied by a sauce known as chimichurri. Every Argentine will make their chimichurri a little differently, but mostly it consists of garlic, olive oil, vinegar, parsley, onion, tomato, and whatever else the chef wishes to throw in. The flavor is refreshing for those used to A1 and worcestershire sauce. I guess chimichurri is to asado what barbecue sauce is to grilling in the states. If you have never tried it Asado Argentina has everything you need to know about asado and chimichurri and everything affiliated with the tradition. Click here for a general chimichurri recipe that you can easily adapt to the ingredients you have on hand. As long as the base ingredients are there you can add spices and flavors as much as you wish. The room for creativity is endless!

The the two types of meat that I tried next were the morcilla and chinchulin. Morcilla is an Argentine blood sausage. It has a deep and very rich flavor, and a little goes a long way. It was definitely worth trying and I ate my fair share of it but I'll probably save the morcilla for those festive occasions. Chinchulin is what we would call tripe in the states. It is a very tasty part of the small intestines that is grilled along with all the other meat. The flavor of chinchulin is difficult to nail down, but to me it most closely resembles eating buttery popcorn and melted Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese, both at the same time.

Overall asado is fantastic, and sets a new standard to barbecue that rivals many of the best barbecue establishments in the states. Argentina may not be known for its culinary genius, but when it comes to barbecue you will be hard pressed to find a more satisfying barbecue experience than the asado of Argentina.

Kyle - Writing after a fabulously asado filled Christmas!