Steak Buenos Aires: El Fuego

Everybody knows that an Asado is only as good as the fire it is cooked upon. The steak in Buenos Aires is so good it makes you think that they must be doing something right when it comes to the flames.  Over the years I’ve been introduced to quite a diverse array of techniques for prepping the primal cooking agent.  In the USA, a popular sight is circular charcoal grills which allow the the fire to dictate the timing, unless they sacrifice flavor for convenience with the use of a gas grill (such a travesty).  They’re also pretty big on smoking meat there for long periods of time (which is incredibly tasty, but doesn’t really factor into this discussion).  In other part’s of South America, a mix of charcoal and wood is a popular touch, and in fact Chileans very often start with a charcoal base and add wood when needed to keep the heat of the fire going later into the grilling process.  But the Asado kings of Argentina have a completely different way of taming the heat, which yields abundant flavor as well as constant controllable temperature. Oh… and we don’t need wood either! (We do burn it to make charcoal and embers, but do not place burning wood under our food!)

The majority of Argentinian Parrillas (Grills) are constructed with a corridor on the side, separated from the grilling area itself.  This is where the fire is created, using large bountiful chunks of charcoal placed in an elevated metal basket.  The fire is started below the basket using anything that burns quickly (paper, cardboard, etc.) and the coals quickly ignite and reach an immensely hot ember stage in no time.  It is at precisely this moment, that the stage I like to refer to as the “Whack-A-Mole Stage” begins.  Because the individual Charcoals are so large, they need to be broken up.  The raging fire can be batted down from the top, forcing the embers to break and leaving smaller more maneuverable chunks of heat below the basket where the fire was originally ignited from.

Now if that wasn’t a strange (and lets not forget brilliant) enough start, the next Argentinian curve ball will catch you even more off guard.  Most people from around the world would agree that the coals start below the irons (or grate), but not us, not here.  Here we do it our way, and the coals start on top! How else are you supposed to properly heat up and sanitize the cooking surface? From the bottom? Are you nuts? (as you can see this sentiment goes both ways so if you’re not form here let’s just agree to disagree!) Anyways, the coals start on top and can be pushed off the back edge of the grilling iron and spread out underneath using the same shovel used to remove said coals from the Whack-a-mole drop zone.

The nice thing about this technique is if you ever need more coals throughout the cooking process you just bat away and scoop some more from below the basket before evenly applying them to the existing bed of coals below the irons.  Aside from that, having the coals do the cooking instead of the flames allows only the iron to char the meat.  The separation of the raging fire from the cooking coals allows the continual controlled use of heat for cooking, and avoids unnecessary charring that can taint the natural flavor of the meat.  So whether you think your marinade, dry rub, or other secret recipe is the only thing that can make a proper Asado, its all going to be a lost cause if you don’t know how to tame the fire beast.  Do yourself a favor, and take notes from the Argentinian style of fire taming, it can only make your personal recipe better.  That I can guarantee!

 

Steak Buenos Aires: The Wood vs. Charcoal Dilemna

All over South America there is a lot of controversy over whether wood or charcoal should be used to create the heat source of an Asado.   To be clear, we’re not talking about charcoal briquettes that come in all uniform size and shape (commonly used in the United States), but rather lump charcoal created by burning wood at low oxygen levels to drive out the imperfections of the wood and turn it into carbon.  The answer can be very different depending on where you go.

Places like Chile and Uruguay at times have no problem burning pure wood under their meat, but this can pose a serious problem if the wood hasn’t completely turned to embers before hand.  The flames serve primarily to char the outside of the meat while the inside remains uncooked, purple, and cold.  When using carbon, this can also be an issue if the coals are not brought uniformly to the correct level of heat before applying the meat to the grilling service.  In other words, you can make the same mistake two ways with these two different materials.  Both of these styles require a keen eye by the Parrillero to make sure that the heat source is ready for the meat.  But with the simple implementation of the Argentinian style of fire making, and coal application, either one of these materials ca be used successfully.

It’s not so much the source as it is the technique of getting that source to a uniform heat level.  Here in Argentina whether we are using lump charcoal or wood, it is burned separately from the cooking area.  When the wood or charcoal is allowed to burn freely in a basket alongside the cooking station, bits and pieces of embers will fall through the grates, giving off roughly the same amount of heat as they have reached the similar level where they can be agitated and disconnected form the original log and/or lump.

By implementing this strategy the wood is only used in conjunction with cooking once it has been turned into an ember suitable for cooking.  When this is done you no longer have to worry about flames kicking up and charring your meat without actually cooking it.  As far as flavor goes, some argue that wood’s embers produce a smokier more natural flavor.  I for one don’t notice a difference and actually encourage using lump charcoal and wood together so that the charcoal can help ignite the wood more quickly allowing it to transform into embers.  The charcoal embers are the first to ignite and fall through, yet the wood which transforms at a slower pace continues to provide you with more embers to place under the grill over the entire course of the night.

In the end I believe both lump charcoal and wood are winners.  The clear loser is uniform shape briquettes of charcoal which although made from ground lump charcoal, also contain sawdust and other questionable materials.  They arent natural and certainly dont provide any positive additional flavor.  As for the first 2 options, there really isn’t much difference other than how quickly they can be utilized.  I always use a mix, so that I can begin grilling in no time and keep on grilling all night long if I choose.

 

Steak Buenos Aires: The Fire!

Everybody knows that an Asado is only as good as the fire it is cooked upon. The steak in Buenos Aires is so good it makes you think that they must be doing something right when it comes to the flames.  Over the years I’ve been introduced to quite a diverse array of techniques for prepping the primal cooking agent.  In the USA, a popular sight is circular charcoal grills which allow the the fire to dictate the timing, unless they sacrifice flavor for convenience with the use of a gas grill (such a travesty).  They’re also pretty big on smoking meat there for long periods of time (which is incredibly tasty, but doesn’t really factor into this discussion).  In other part’s of South America, a mix of charcoal and wood is a popular touch, and in fact Chileans very often start with a charcoal base and add wood when needed to keep the heat of the fire going later into the grilling process.  But the Asado kings of Argentina have a completely different way of taming the heat, which yields abundant flavor as well as constant controllable temperature. Oh… and we don’t need wood either! (We do burn it to make charcoal and embers, but do not place burning wood under our food!)

The majority of Argentinian Parrillas (Grills) are constructed with a corridor on the side, separated from the grilling area itself.  This is where the fire is created, using large bountiful chunks of charcoal placed in an elevated metal basket.  The fire is started below the basket using anything that burns quickly (paper, cardboard, etc.) and the coals quickly ignite and reach an immensely hot ember stage in no time.  It is at precisely this moment, that the stage I like to refer to as the “Whack-A-Mole Stage” begins.  Because the individual Charcoals are so large, they need to be broken up.  The raging fire can be batted down from the top, forcing the embers to break and leaving smaller more maneuverable chunks of heat below the basket where the fire was originally ignited from.

Now if that wasn’t a strange (and lets not forget brilliant) enough start, the next Argentinian curve ball will catch you even more off guard.  Most people from around the world would agree that the coals start below the irons (or grate), but not us, not here.  Here we do it our way, and the coals start on top! How else are you supposed to properly heat up and sanitize the cooking surface? From the bottom? Are you nuts? (as you can see this sentiment goes both ways so if you’re not form here let’s just agree to disagree!) Anyways, the coals start on top and can be pushed off the back edge of the grilling iron and spread out underneath using the same shovel used to remove said coals from the Whack-a-mole drop zone.

The nice thing about this technique is if you ever need more coals throughout the cooking process you just bat away and scoop some more from below the basket before evenly applying them to the existing bed of coals below the irons.  Aside from that, having the coals do the cooking instead of the flames allows only the iron to char the meat.  The separation of the raging fire from the cooking coals allows the continual controlled use of heat for cooking, and avoids unnecessary charring that can taint the natural flavor of the meat.  So whether you think your marinade, dry rub, or other secret recipe is the only thing that can make a proper Asado, its all going to be a lost cause if you don’t know how to tame the fire beast.  Do yourself a favor, and take notes from the Argentinian style of fire taming, it can only make your personal recipe better.  That I can guarantee!