Lets talk about Steaks in Argentina

In terms of eating there is a lot left to personal preference. This can be attributed to many factors including, palette inclinations, what kind of food you grew up with or simply how hungry you are at a specific point in time.  The same applies for beef.  Cows are huge and when butchered they produce a lot of different cuts.  If you will indulge me, in the next few paragraphs I’d like to take the opportunity to better acquaint you with some of the more popular cuts of steak.

So for starters, what is a steak? Yeah, obviously it’s meat but what is it that qualifies a cut of meat as a steak?  In the most general way a steak is a piece of meat that can be classified as something “fast-cooking”.  What this means is that the beef itself is low enough in connective tissue that an extended amount of cooking time isn’t necessary.  The biggest difference between a steak and a roast really is the size.

It’s true that the cheaper cuts such as skirt steak, flank steak and sirloin are becoming increasingly popular these days.  However, some the best cuts are still coming from the Longissimus dorsi and the Psoas major.  The tenderness of a steak is inversely related to how much work a muscle does during a cow’s lifetime.  The two previously mentioned muscles are extremely tender which makes them ideal candidates for a delicious steak.  From these two large cuts come a number of other smaller cuts that you’d find at any typical butcher shop.

Let’s start with the Ribeye, a cut from the front end of the Longissimus dorsi.  This is a highly marbled piece of meat with a large swath of fat separating the Longissiumus from the Spinalis.  With beef, fat is where the distinctive flavor comes from.  Because of this ribeye is one of the richest cuts out there.   When it comes to cooking this tasty slab grilling, pan-frying and broiling are your best bets.

Now onto the New York Strip steak.  This cut comes from the rear-end of Longissimus dorsi muscle just behind the ribs.  It is moderately tender with good marbling and an intense beefy flavor.  This is by far one of the favorites in all steakhouses.  This cut is easy to grill because it has less fat and therefore causes less flareups.  You can also pan-fry or broil it although obviously in terms of Argentine Asado this wouldn’t be acceptable let alone ideal.

The Tenderloin sold as Filet or filet mignon is cut from the central section of the Psoas major muscle.  It is an extremely tender piece of beef with a buttery texture.  It’s low in fat and because of this it is also relatively low in flavor.  The tenderloin tends to cook much faster than other cuts because it is so low in fat.  Pan-frying in oil and then basting it in butter is a common method of cooking because it adds some richness to this meat, which is prone to drying out.  Another popular method of cooking a filet mignon is to wrap it in bacon.  It’s essentially the same idea as the butter in that it helps to add some richness in flavor.

Another extremely popular cut we have is the T-Bone steak known as a porterhouse.  What’s cool about the T-bone is that you’re getting two different cuts in one.  It’s comprised of a piece of strip as well as a piece of tenderloin that’s separated by a T-shaped bone.  It comes from the front end of the short line.  Grilling is hands down the best method to cook this steak.  The only thing to be mindful of is overcooking the tenderloin before the piece of strip is done.  What is so convenient about grilling it is that you can control what section of the meat is near the hotter end of the grill.

 

Argentina Steak: Grilling Points

When it comes to wine, the consensus is that you should drink the wines that make you happy. At the end of the day, quality, style, price and recommendations from the finest of sommeliers mean very little if that wine just doesn’t work for you. To each his own. In terms of steaks, this logic applies as well, not that it has prevented the debate over to which point a steak must be grilled to rage on endlessly. I’m not here to solve that debate – but perhaps to give my take on it.

One of the fun but essentially non-transferable skills that you pick up from working in a steakhouse is being able to 1) guess pretty accurately how people like their beef cooked and 2) and to which point a steak has been cooked by glancing at it. But first let’s review the various grilling points that any steakhouse should be able to hit. The scale, running from faintly mooing to burnt to a crisp, goes likes this:

Blue – Rare – Medium Rare – Medium – Medium Well – Well Done. Below is an illustrative chart explaining their differences. A key point to remember that beef cooked Blue and Rare is never served cold – it has to be hot but the meat can’t have been cooked through.

Now, at least in London, 60% of clients ordered Medium Rare, another 30% were split evenly between Rare and Medium Well and the remaining 10% spread randomly around Blue, Well Done and Very Well Done. In Argentina, the numbers are closer to 70% Medium another 20% ask for Well Done and only the odd lunatic goes for Medium Rare or less. More on this later.

Anyways, given the rates that we were seeing in London, we would take notice when someone asked for a Rare steak. Some announced their choice bravely and loudly, as if they deserved a gold star having the courage to order a steak Rare. Almost everybody asking for Well Done or Very Well Done apologised for their preference, much like when non-smokers apologise for not having a lighter on them when asked. French tourists made up the 70% of steaks ordered Blue and most people ordering the smallest steaks also ordered them more cooked. And believe it or not, peer pressure exists when it comes to grilling points. I can’t understand why, but in many groups of friends there’s always one self-appointed grilling point supervisor who will cluck disapprovingly if anybody orders a steak beyond an arbitrarily determined point. The most interesting part though was when I was asked what I recommended as grilling points. The story of to each his own also applies here but it’s true that nature of the cuts matters when choosing grilling points. For the larger Bife de Chorizo I didn’t recommend anybody doubting of their choice that they go with Rare just because it is so large and that is a large amount of relatively uncooked beef to get through. I also think Medium Rare works a bit better on cuts that are fattier because the extended heat helps to breakdown the marbling better. So, Bife de Lomo Rare or Blue? Right on, but not the Ojo de Bife if you aren’t already sure you like it that way.

The debate about grilling points really verges on the fact that those who prefer it less cooked insist that by extending the cooking the meat loses its juices and tenderness and becomes irremediably inedible. The opposing camp usually can’t bear the thought of blood and juices pooling in their plate. Each has a point. In Argentina the standard is not only to grill the meat to at least Medium, but that at asados you don’t get to pick the grilling point. As the pieces are grilled whole and it is up to the asador when the cut is ready, you best like whatever is served to you. It isn’t entirely clear to me why in Argentina everybody also prefers their beef grilled longer. My working theory is that the quality of the beef is such that even if you get it Well Done it is still tender and tasty. But there’s basically no science or method behind that statement so take it a considerable amount of sal parrillera.

I personally go for a Medium Rare and on occasion will ask for a Rare. Amongst friends I won’t blink if the beef is Medium. When the wine is good and the company better, I’m not sure that it matters all that much to me as long as it’s been done Argentine-style over a parrilla!

 

Argentina Steak: Quebracho

I am not a botanist. Nor do I have a particular understanding of nature. I know that trees grow and that occasionally they get chopped down and used as firewood to cook some meat and heat houses. There’s not a lot more to it than that, as far as I am concerned. But this entry is about Quebracho, a generic name given to a few tree species native to Argentina that are used by the most exacting of parrilleros. 

The term Quebracho is a corruption of quebrar (to  break) and hacha (axe), and refers to a collection of very hard woods that may or may not be genetically related. The term “ironwood” is used in English in a similar way in fact. The images of cracking axes and trees made of iron should provide a clue to the how these woods burn when used in an asado. If newspaper is a 0 in a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of hardness, quebracho is most definitely an 11.

It is important to note that of the entire Quebracho class, it is Quebracho blanco (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco) and Quebracho colorado (Schinopsis lorentzii and Schinopsis balansae variants) that are most commonly used for parrillas. Predictably and to add to the confusion, these two are of different species and not related at all. Each are extremely dense and hard.

Credit – Wikipedia

I’ve used Quebracho colorado a few times, and each time I’ve been amazed by how dense it is. When cut into pieces of about 20cm by 20cm (good luck chopping them yourself without breaking your axe) that are manageable for the parrilla they are still very heavy, easily passing a kilogram each. They take hours to break down into coals, but do so reliably, with a lot of heat and very little ash. This is important particularly for parrillas not only using wood, but also serving a large number of guests. If they were to use lighter firewood they would need enormous quantities and would spend a great deal of time restocking their fire rather than managing the meat on the grill. The flipside is of course that lighting a fire with Quebracho is difficult and generating coals requires some time and expertise. Readers familiar with the firewood versus coals debate will recall that anybody using firewood is probably a bit of a asado nerd; using Quebracho makes you an asado ultranerd.

But the fact that the ultranerds use it doesn’t take away from the fact that Quebracho is part of the intricate details of an asado. Much like the different cuts of meat have their own flavours, identities and secrets, using different kind of wood will drastically change the way that the fire burns. The fire itself is fundamental to the asado, and adapting to how every specific fire burns is part of any parrilero’s job. Doing an asado is an exercise in judgment, as the parrillero measures fire, coals and meat as well as his or her own alcohol intake along with keeping hungry and rowdy guests at bay. Using Quebracho is perhaps a guilty pleasure, as it isn’t cheap, but if you can appreciate the satisfaction of building a fire to cook your dinner, you can certainly appreciate the novelty of using some something capable of breaking axes to grill that delicate bife de lomo just right.

 

Argentina Steak : Charcoal vs. Woodfire

Visitors to Buenos Aires who have seen parrilla al carbon signs on the steakhouses may have wondered what the carbon means. The basic principle behind any parrilla is that the heat driving the grilling process is not simply turned on and off or adjusted by a dial, but in fact intimately managed by the parrillero. This heat is more specifically generated by hot embers that are placed underneath a grill, upon which sits a wide of selections of choice cuts. The surrounding air and the grill is heated, which in turn slowly cooks the meat. The ways in which a parrillero controls those embers, their placement, and how often they are replaced as they cool, is worth its own blog post. Instead, this post will address where in fact the parrillero gets the embers from. More precisely, from a wood fire or by heating up charcoal, known in Argentina as carbon.

The choice is more important than would appear at first glance. Not only does it change the processes that the parrillero must have a handle on, but it also makes a difference in the taste of the finished meat. To understand this better, it’s important to understand what we’re talking about precisely.

Care for some Charcoal?

Anyone accustomed to cooking with charcoal barbecues would be roughly familiar with Argentine carbon grilling. Bags of the stuff can be bought at any supermarket and the process differs slightly based on the fact that in Argentina the fire generating the hot embers is usually kept separate from the grill itself, and the embers are moved over as needed. For me at least, the trickiest part of using charcoal is getting it lit and hot so that it starts to generate embers. Once they are lit, the coals will stay hot for hours and simply adding new coals to the fire will ensure a steady supply of new coals. Restaurants and apartment buildings in the city with a communal parrilla favor charcoal because it is usually reliable and it is easier to find than firewood. As the ad below demonstrates, the process of lighting the charcoal is not so straight forward. In this case the designated parrillero is missing and his clueless friends must start the fire without him. The last scene, at dawn, with an excessively smoky grill and the chorizos (sausages) barely ready exemplifies how specialized the parrilero function can be. Bear in mind that Hereford is a breed of cow and that Hereford wines are nothing to write home about, hence their amusing ad not about wine, but about asados.

Using fire to generate embers requires the parrillero to split his attention between the actual grilling and the fire itself, as in this case the hot embers must be produced by breaking down the firewood into hot coals. This requires more time, more patience, and more hard work and good judgment so that there are always enough hot embers when they are required. Bear in mind that the meat isn’t actually cooked by the fire itself, so it requires some careful maneouvering to extract the embers from the fire to then transfer them beneath the grill. The advantage though, is that the woodfire generates smokiness that gets into the meat in a way the carbon can’t and there’s nothing quite like using fire to cook your meal.

Or some woodfire?

Opinion, as is normally the case here, is divided about the relative merits and drawbacks of each. Those who favour wood fires will talk up the flavor but might seem a little pretentious to those preferring bags of charcoal, who in turn might be seen as taking shortcuts by the woodfire gang. At the end of the day, whichever method achieves best results is what matters. Great results can be achieved either way, but next time you have a chance, see if you can find out exactly how the meat was grilled. It’s one of the finer details of an asado, perhaps reserved for the obsessive types, but if you’re still reading you may just be one of them.

 

Argentina Steak: Entrana in Buenos Aires

The entrana is one of the lesser known components of an Argentine asado (steak dinner) that is just now beginning to gain recognition as an ideal choice for grilling. It is a long, thin cut from the diaphragm muscle of the cow that can be less tender than your extremely succulent Argentine cuts, such as bife de lomo (beef tenderloin), vacio (flank steak), or bife de chorizo (New York strip).

However, when cooked in the traditional Argentine manner you will find that this steak is full of flavor. Helping gain its recent popularity in the Buenos Aires “parrillas” (steakhouse) is the fact that it is a relatively inexpensive option. The skirt steak, as it is referred to in English, often comes with a thick layer of fat and muscle membrane. It is up to the “asador” (grill master) whether or not to trim it before grilling. Leaving it on allows the flavorful entrana to retain its juices and develop a crispy exterior, whereas removing it eliminates having to manage the toughness of the membrane.

As far as preparation goes, a simple salt rub will provide an emphasis on the natural flavors of the steak, but it is often left to marinade in chimichurri (an original Argentine grilling sauce) before grilling to help tenderize the meat. Due to the thin nature of this cut, not much cook time is required (between 5 and 7 minutes per side), and therefore, it is sometimes used as an appetizer for an Argentine asado whilst the rest of the meat that takes longer, like your vacio, is left to roast. If served as the main entrée, it is recommended that the entrana be served alongside chips and a salad which greatly compliment this flank steak on a night out in Buenos Aires.

 

La entraña es uno de los elementos menos conocidos de un asado argentino que hasta ahora, está  empezando a ganar reconocimiento como una opción ideal para asar a la parrilla. Se trata de un largo y delgado corte del músculo del diafragma de la vaca, que puede ser menos sensible que los cortes argentinos muy suculentos, como bife de lomo (solomillo de ternera), vacio (arrachera) o bife de chorizo. Sin embargo, cuando se cocinan a la manera tradicional argentina se encuentra que esta carne está llena de sabor. Como fue su recién popularidad en las parrillas de Buenos Aires es el hecho de que es una opción relativamente barata. El bistec de falda, como se le conoce en inglés, a menudo viene con una gruesa capa de grasa y la membrana muscular. Corresponde a la “asador” (amo de la parrilla) o no lo ajustan antes de asar.

Dejando que permita en la entraña sabrosa para retener sus jugos y desarrollar un exterior crujiente, mientras que la eliminación que elimina tener que gestionar la resistencia de la membrana. Por lo que la preparación va, un simple roce sal proporcionará un énfasis en los sabores naturales de la carne, pero a menudo se deja marinar en chimichurri (una salsa original del asado) antes de asar para ayudar a ablandar la carne. Debido a la naturaleza fina de este corte, no es necesario cocinarla mucho tiempo (entre 5 y 7 minutos por cada lado), y por lo tanto, a veces se utiliza como un aperitivo para un asado argentino, mientras que el resto de la carne tarda más tiempo, como el vacio, se deja al asado.

Si se sirve como plato principal, se recomienda que la entraña se sirva junto con patatas fritas y ensalada, que complementan en gran medida esta arrachera en una noche en Buenos Aires.