Argentinean asado: know how the experts cook barbecue.
1- Start early
To make a good asado, you must start at least two hours before dinner time.
2- Clean the barbecue grill thoroughly (ideally a parrilla or compound grill).
The first step for a good asado is to have the barbecue grill very clean, and a good fire started.
3- Have a good fire started in the right way
Fire should be made with wood, starting it with cone pines, never, never use chemicals to start the asado fire. This lets gases come out and will give a poor taste to your meat. So you must only use paper, little branches, or wood. Do not buy wood of smelling trees, like eucalyptus or pine trees, as they also leave a different smell which will spoil the meat taste. Do not use charcoal either, as it does not make smoke and thus meat will loose some extra flavor given by the smoke.
4- Wait until you have enough embers.
Put the embers under the grill, making a big circle.
This is going to start warming the grill (or parrilla). Embers should be under the grill at about 30 centimeters or 40 centimeters below it, always in a big circle, so that the heat goes to the middle of the grill.
5- Put the meat on the grill at the right time
When much of the wood turned to embers, then would be time to put the meat on the grill. So once there are embers placed under the grill and more keep coming, put the meat on the fire.
6- The bones go towards the embers
Always buy a large and wide strip of rib bones, putting the bone part towards the embers. Be very careful that no fire starts between the embers, this would burn the asado.
7- Add sausages or innards after 20 minutes
If you are adding sausages or innards (traditional in Argentinean and Argentinean-style barbecues), this means that you are either going to cook the meat for a short time or it is going to be smoked for a longer time. This allows you to have a messy barbecue and allows everyone to enjoy himself, plus you have enough time to fighters and cooler. But you have to be careful that no one goes beyond 20 minutes, otherwise you have a BBQ that is messy, has no flavor and is covered in between coarselyburr.
8- You can fight with meat, but not with food
In Argentinean and Argentinean asado, the fight goes on between the meat and the food, and here is a rule no one breaks, it is a fight only between the meat and the food, never between you and your food, and definitely not between you and your plate. This holds true when you are at home as well, so be gentle with your plate and your meat.
9- The plate is the king
Don’t think that you are the king of the world. The Argentinean king is the lion of the court, and you serve him with respect. The Argentinean king doesn’t eat with his food, he eats with his hands and everything else. He will pick his food up with his fingers and by that time you have finished eating, you will have nothing to say about it, and the next time you see him he will say ” tally moi” which means “you well served.” This means that you have pleased him, and you have not forgotten to please him.
10- Chilli is a great way to entertain
Never underestimate the importance of chilli in Argentinean anduvian cooking. They add chilli because it adds a lot of flavour to their food, and it is a familiar flavour to many other Mediterranean countries. You can either add a lot of chilli or just a little, but either way you are going to get a lot of flavour. And the secret is not to overcook it, so if you do it too long it will get a bit stringy, and not taste so good.
And now we go to the tangy part, once you have bought a few bottles of liquid gold and have been working with them, actually not too much at first but as you increase the amount you will start to get a feel for how much you can handle and how hot it can get. Here are some guidelines on how to keep your chilli hot and fresh.
