argentine asado bbq
oh that is how it works about three times as big of a bite as I should have so good they call it matambre
hunger killer well good morning good morning guys
greetings from Mendoza Argentina first day in this beautiful city without sunshine blue
skies lovely warm weather we've decided it's the perfect day for an Argentine barbecue for
on an asado Sam and my dad went and bought Lena wood for the barbecue they
don't really do charcoal here in Mendoza and they do wood so that's the plan they're
already downstairs in the courtyard trying to light a fire for the asado have to warn you
they've already had a couple of glasses of vermouth without eating anything so
they're kind of giggly kind of struggling with the fire if you ask me
but they are happy to be in Mendoza Argentina so we're gonna go downstairs this one is giggling in the kitchen I got the gaucho knives
oh yeah let's go downstairs and monitor the situation okay people
we're in Mendoza Argentina today we just came from the grocery stores we bought a whole
bunch of things we're going to barbecue today yeah and we also bought a bottle
of Cinzano Rose over mu and men or Samuel and I had
a glass of Mary
we really kept going but yeah we had the carpet if you have wire the long trip is
gonna clear our thoughts and our head yeah but I don't know did we do the
right thing where we screwed up you know and the other thing is that we bought
two bags of firewood here because here in the previous province of Mendoza in
Argentina nobody uses charcoal yeah they barbecue the old-fashioned way with
their firewood so that means that you have to light the wood get it to burn
let it turn into Amber's and then you scoop up the Amber's and you put it onto
the grill it's a slower process but it's worth it isn't it so that's the first
bag yeah and look at that and then we have another bag just in case and you
even gave us a newspaper yeah they gave us everything that we need to start the
fire going it's not going to be a huge Argentinian barbecue because it's only the three of
us yeah and the other barbecue that we did in Cordova we ended up feeding all
the dogs there's three dogs in the bus terminal so today we bought a little bit
less and we're gonna start the fire we're gonna walk you through it and then
once the asado fire is ready and the embers can be set under the grill we're going
to get a traditional Argentinean barbecue bbq going and you're gonna learn
something from this
oh that's how it works yeah I've never seen it like one where you have to burn
the wood to charcoal and then move the charcoal over okay guys wanna walk you
through the paces of the typical argentinian style asado
this one we're doing just with the plain firewood it's a hard wood the thing you
need to do first all the grills have a special section
here where you start the fire where you get the wood to start burning right once
the wood starts really burning and starts to coming into smaller pieces
it's going to start falling down yeah here and then down here you see this is
what you wanna start getting it's the embers yeah okay and then with this you
scoop and you're gonna be putting under the grill under the grill this all over
here under the grill constantly yeah this is going to be burning yeah
producing more embers and you're gonna scoop and refill okay and so that allows
you to slow cook the meat very slow cooking that's the process to do a
typical argentinian BBQ if you have other countries like for instance Brazil
yeah they also barbecue but they do it mostly
with an open flame okay they build a fire like a little bit deeper than this
yeah then they put the meat on the grill and they cook it with the flame we here
in Argentina wouldn't do that you know like we cook it with a very very small
amount of charcoals or embers or whatever is that you're using here and
let it cook very slow that's the secret of the good quality on a barbecue yeah
you cannot rush it okay I'm hungry I'm going to put a lot of leat fat coals
underneath oh it's a full day Activision if you do that you're going to burn the
outside and the inside is not going to be cooked the way it should be cooked
and the juices and well it's a long story
yeah but to make it short do you want to do it this way you can do it this way if
you don't want to do it like this you can always
do with charcoal hardwood charcoal I don't recommend a briquettes because you
know it's practically so dust pressed together with a little bit of black
paint yeah but if you buy a good quality hardwood charcoal then you can get a
good barbecue going the secret is slow cook it slow take your time well this is
cooking you do other things on the table you do like a picada picada means you've
got little pieces of cold cuts cheese all lives whatever a little bit of bread
yeah and you're drinking a little bit of wine you're eating all these little
things you talk a lot because that's the whole point of an argentinian barbecue
get-together and a lot of talking a lot of interaction example and then at the
end when the asado is ready you're in hock that one it's a yeah but it takes
time yeah don't rush it
so some of the meat is ready and on the table can you tell us what you're eating
okay the flights are crazy yeah they know it's good you want a piece of the
action what we have here is like a sailor
Lauren tip okay mm-hmm we already cut it into pieces because there were too big
nice and juicy this is another cut it's a very thin cut I wouldn't know what you
call it in English it's my dominant Spanish they call it matambre
okay this word killer yeah this one hai is seasoned with a little bit of our
lemon juice spices and it's been cooked to perfection and then we still have the
sausages and another cut of beef inside the grill that was a little bit thicker
so we're starting with this and then the rest is gonna be coming out excellent
well we're beginning wine and wine is what we start with you and my dad have
been drinking to your wine good well I do is preparing the salad upstairs so
I'm going to try this white one who maybe I maybe that's quite a bit of wine
so this one is by lordy enormous yeah winemaker was it say about it
semi dawn and Sauvignon Blanc okay from Valley the Yukon Valley just south from
here serve chilled at ten degrees Celsius feels chilled I'm not sure it's
at ten you haven't put in the fridge I told us
it's more of a dry wine you're gonna like it
I have it yeah you're gonna like it we eat and prove to you in oh that's an
oddly wine yeah that's not as dry as I was
expecting a bit of sweetness at the end like it it's just very light refreshing
yeah I probably would impair it with steak but you know what it's a Mendel so
we've got a conveyor a second beer after after taking it so this one is the beef
of the chorizo right which is the sirloin in English yeah one of the many
cuts of meat my dad cooked up for us yeah compliment
is always to the chef done another great job I should say the
grill master chimichurri is never too far away
nope try that if you ever need extra flavor you can always sprinkle a bit
more salt yeah traditional because the traditional
Argentine way though is just with salt chimichurri is like extra if you need it
or if you want it that's really good oh man I can't wait to try this I'm gonna
try the red for us now the red the red this is what you're supposed to have
with an Argentine asado barbecue always he compared it with the Malbec and hey
we're in mendoza so of course we're trying in mendoza wine and this point is
special because it was recommended to us we went to a vino TECA I said what would
be heat like a good mid-range kind of wine maybe that's not too well-known
recommended this one is called Laureano Gomes 2018
I've already tried it but let me tell you it's good so good so smooth I really
really like it if you're visiting and Mendoza and you can pick up this wine
highly recommend it it's very good and how about some meat your plate is
looking empty so what do we have so far what can I try well you should try the
my thumb button yeah that won't use my thumb pain I have never had matambre
it's a bit of a different cut it's very thin so it gets a little bit crispy and
receiving it with lemon juice yeah you know it's old I can't forget what your
knife crazy for your dad let's treat
mm-hmm matambre is uh crispy on the outside
that's a jury earth kind of meat what I do like it it's pretty good it's top we
put a little lemon juice and some spices yeah we do that's right all right this
is the solid that Audrey prepared while we were what we were working on the
grill or drinking wine and not to say one or drinking wine bubbly wine more
more so drinking wine Audrey was upstairs preparing us a nice
salad over here it's a pretty simple salad just three ingredients in there
lettuce tomato some avocados yeah well it gives us some a bit of something
refreshing and yeah healthy I seasoned it with
lemon juice olive oil a chick dog and salt for that piece a piece of all three
the shish kebab salad let's give up salad enjoy okay now we are reaching the
end of the barbecue but I wanted to show you for all those people that like to
barbecue and they always wonder how is he like about an argentinian style
barbecue the wood has already burnt okay
this is what you want look you see this is what you need Amber's like charcoal
in Spanish we call them brasses they are like little pieces of wood that are
still ignited yeah and this is what you need to put under the grill yes
yeah like that just like that just spread it all over the grill like that
this is a nice kind of yeah even heat and even heat and then you come like
this you put your hand one two five six seven eight nine ten ten that's the
right amount of heat for the meat and whatever you put on the grill to cook
slowly if you cannot hold your hand there after you count to five or six or
seven it's just too hot you're going to push the the meat to be grilled at a
faster pace and it's not going to be the same
yeah this Argentinean style barbecue needs to be cooked slowly slow and
steady right rush it that's why before you go and eat your barbecue you're
gonna sit at the table with the family with their friends you start with the
picada which a piccata means like you slice
pieces of salami mortadella ham cheese bread or leaves you know you name it
anything you like you sit at the table and you start munching on those things
with a nice cup of wine or maybe like gins on over moon and you talk and you
have a good time in the meantime this is cooking really slow okay once this is
ready then you bring it to the table and you go for the second period
okay first period is the picada second period is when you bring all this meat
to the table yeah okay and you start having the real barbecue gather with the
family lots of talking lots of support the event yeah it's a lot of interacting
right this is a way of life and then when you're done with the barbecue you
go into third period move your fill it'll be too much to drink but then
later you know they come with the coffee desserts all the sweets and before you
know it you've been 12 hours with family friends having a good time the day has
gone by you have eating like a king and that's the essence of an argentinian
barbecue it's not as much as the meat or whatever you put on the table is more
like the gathering the quality time with family with friends and that's what it's
all about try it you'll like it you'll enjoy it
and you'll enjoy life fam here is introducing us to the art of a truly
fascinating time I'll just cut this open so basically guys you take the bread
like this which is the pond you take the chori which is the
Argentine sausage you put it like that and you know what I'm gonna add a little
bit of chimichurri because you got to always have it right yeah so this has
got all kinds of good stuff it's very garlicky really just put it very liberal
it took a swim in the chimichurri marinating
yes marinating and the only thing left to do is take a bite look at that that's
smells smoky from over here a fun he's hot watch it I'm here problem is I took
well three times as big of a bite as I should have done way can describe it is
like the skin is it's crispy on the outside and then as you bite into it
it's like an explosion flavors juiciness you have the
chimichurri which adds like all the spice and more flavor and it just goes
so well on the bread it's a grease it kind of meat so part of the reason why
you hold it in the bread it's kind of like just so you don't get grease on
your hands but it goes so well together it's like a a next-level hotdog really
if that's what you're used to mm-hmm all right last but not least this is
probably one of our favorite cuts this is the flank steak the facio it's
probably pound for pound the best cut of meat you can get for an Argentine
barbecue it's just a massive cut of meat such a big piece of meat that it ends up
being smoky on the outside juicy in the middle my first bite so I'm very excited
I mean both of you guys have tried it it was good we were pleased we were
impressed mmm Oh mom just packed with flavor it's so juicy so delicious I'm so
nice to have an experience like this to be able to have these asados here in
argentina we've purposely chosen air B&B so that have a have a girl yeah so that
we can do this mmm this is better than eating out I'm in a family I'm having
great food look how much meat we still have left I only put a dent we've been
eating a lot maybe some for tonight or tomorrow they'll be at least leftovers
for a couple days um yeah it's been awesome
you