Authentic Asado (Long Overdue)

[Aggie12]

Went down to Argentina earlier this year for several weeks to help do some training with a customer on some equipment we built for them at work. While down there, the customer treated us to an Asado, or Argentinian BBQ (They eat lots of beef, beef, and more beef!).

Basic setup was a brick pit that was divided into two sections. Wood was burned on one side, and then coals were shoveled underneath the meat on the other to control the heat.

On the grill was beef ribs and chorizo. It was more or less just regular sausage, not anything at all similar to the Mexican chorizo you fine here. That said, it was still very good.

Of course, we had to enjoy a few bottles of Malbec while waiting on it to cook. I’m not normally a wine drinker (at all!), but I found Malbec to be REALLY good!

Ate off of wooden plates and not a vegetable in site for this meal :biggrin1:. (Believe there was some bread as a side dish, if I recall correctly. I don’t believe it was seasoned with anything other than salt. I will say it was a little salty for my taste, but still very good. I ended up eating way too much, as our host just kept piling it on our plates. Basically did the same with the Malbec in our glasses as well...

They cooked some more for us on another night before we left. Believe it was skirt steak, but not sure as they have different names for each cut and there was a bit of a language barrier.

Lemon juice on top for flavor and tenderizing and, yes that is newspaper on top to hold in the heat on both sides of the meat, haha.

 

[4ever3]

DAYUM!!!!

That had to be awesome!!!

 

[ShadowDriver]

That's fantastic! Thanks for taking us with you!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

WOW That looks and sounds amazing

 

[jzadski]

Good times and good food, can't go wrong there. Neat to see how they do it, thanks for sharing

 

[Stingerhook]

Fantabulous!!!!!

 

[Aggie12]

A few more random pictures that y’all might be interested in:

They drink Yerba Mate their more than we drink coffee. Here is a very “unique” gourd one of the workers had.

Scenic overlook of the city.

Relaxing at the river on one of our days off. The water was from ice/snow melt high up in the Andes, so the water was COLD, especially since it was over 100 F most days we were there.

Restaurant that served more Asado. Didn’t have the stomach to try the kidney or intestines. Didn’t eat the blood sausage this time either, but had unknowingly tried it earlier in the trip. Pro tip: AVOID THE BLOOD SAUSAGE!!!!! Pork loin, chorizo, and ribs were once again very good.

A “friend” joining us for lunch.

 

[pwrserge]

I really miss going there. I was there for work a few times as well. I tell everyone that its the only place where i had a Filet the size of a bicycle seat. They do love their Beef down there. Every restaurant would have the most amazing fire pit out front to lure in the masses. Live fire cooking down there is an art form.

 

[NoOne]

Very very cool!

 

[Titch]

Your a very lucky man,
Your right about the salt, I only need Togo next door for a feed like that
That steak you are not sure of is most likely called Matambre
Awesome and beefy done right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matambre

I like black pudding but found the Argentinian blood sausage disgusting

 

[Greygoose]

Looks like a real good time !
My kind of fun,,,

 

[Aggie12]

Your a very lucky man,
Your right about the salt, I only need Togo next door for a feed like that
That steak you are not sure of is most likely called Matambre
Awesome and beefy done right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matambre

I like black pudding but found the Argentinian blood sausage disgusting

Matambre. Yes that is what it must have been. When I asked what cut of meat it was the cook pointed to the rib cage, signaling either flank or skirt, but I wasn’t sure which one it was. I thought it looked more like skirt to me just the way it was cut.

 

[ulc]

Awesome! Thanks for the detailed report and pictures! Argentina is definitely on my scheduled list of countries to visit. Once this coronavirus is under control and the countries reopen their borders, my wife and I plan to travel international for many months out of the year.

I like blood sausage so I look forward to trying Argentine version.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

What a great opportunity to get to try the different types of cooking/eating...

 

[chingador]

More likely Vacio which is the thick flank steak. Matambre is basic flank steak we see in our markets here. There is an Argentinian restaurant near my office that does blood sausage. Very rich. I wouldn’t call it nasty but not something I crave. My favorite cut at Argentinean restaurants is entrana, which is outside skirt. I would love to try those thin strip ribs cooked that way. Looks like an awesome experience.

 

[Capt]

Thanks for the Share!