Chivito

The chivito is a sandwich of very thin beef steak, quickly seared on the griddle and served in a soft roll with ham, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato, egg and mayonnaise. Many versions add bacon, olives or bell pepper. It is also ordered “al plato”: the same ingredients on a plate, usually with French fries on the side. In Spanish, chivito means kid (young goat), but the sandwich does not contain goat meat.

The name comes from the story told by its creator, Antonio Carbonaro, owner of the bar El Mejillón in Punta del Este. According to him, on a blackout night in the 1940s a female customer, whom he remembered as being from northern Argentina or Chile, asked for kid meat, which she had tried in Córdoba. The bar did not have it. The kitchen improvised toasted bread with butter, a slice of ham and a juicy steak, and Carbonaro would later say they had invented the chivito by accident. The exact year varies among accounts, from 1944 to 1946.

El Mejillón was located on the peninsula of Punta del Este, near Playa Mansa, and was one of the few bars open day and night. The sandwich entered the menu and, according to Carbonaro, reached a thousand units per day, to the point that two butcher shops in town relied on the meat sold to the bar. The name was never registered as a trademark, and other bars began making their versions.

Over time, the chivito gained ingredients and variants, such as the “canadiense,” with Canadian bacon, and the version served on a plate with French fries. It spread throughout Uruguay, from snack bars to restaurants, and the Ministry of Tourism calls it a recipe of national heritage.