Asado

The asado starts with the fire. The asador, who oversees everything, lights wood or charcoal, waits for the flames to die down and spreads the embers under the parrilla, the iron grill, regulating the heat over hours. The meat goes on the grill with coarse salt and little else. In the countryside, especially in Patagonia, the whole animal or large pieces are secured to an iron cross planted in the ground beside the fire — asado a la cruz or al asador.

The rhythm follows an order. First come the sausages and offal, the achuras: chorizo, morcilla, chinchulines (intestines), mollejas and kidney, served with bread while the larger cuts finish. Then come the tira de asado (short ribs cut across the bones), vacío, matambre, entraña and other cuts depending on the place. To accompany: simple salads, bread, chimichurri (a sauce of parsley, garlic, oregano, pepper, oil and vinegar) and salsa criolla, made with onion, tomato and bell pepper. At the end, it is customary to applaud the asador.

In Argentina, asado is the meal for Sundays and special dates, for family and friend gatherings, for the club and the worksite. The country created its food heritage program in 2002 with Resolution 1327 of the National Secretariat of Culture, and the Ministry of Culture’s page states that asado, empanada and dulce de leche carry the seal of Argentine Cultural, Food and Gastronomic Heritage because they are typical and widely consumed throughout the country. Each province has its cuts and its fires, but none owns the custom.

Ember-roasted meat is also a tradition of the neighbors. In 2003, when Argentina announced the designation of asado, empanada and dulce de leche as heritage, Uruguay protested and asked that they be treated as heritage of the Río de la Plata region; the issue was resolved by agreement between the two governments. Asado is equally central in Uruguayan cuisine, and in southern Brazil the churrasco has similar roots in the life of the gaúchos, the cowboys of the pampas.