Our First Asado With Friends

Argentinians love their weekend Asado (barbeque). Yesterday we were invited to our friend Luis' asado with his friends and family. The morning sun gave good hopes for a beautiful Sunday in the burbs of Buenos Aires.

We were picked up at about 10:30am for the ride out to Escobar, about 25 miles north of Buenos Aires. There were hardly any traffic this early but with a strong weather report everyone expected a lot of porteños to leave the city for a day out on the beautiful country side.

Our host started to prepare the Parilla (the grill) as soon as we got to his house. There is a special ritual how to light the fire, heat the grill, prepare and cook the meat. It's a very active process and takes about 2-3 hrs from start to finish.

A real Argentinian asado offers much more than the usual burgers and hot dogs. It usually concists of several different sausages, inner organs and several different cuts of meat. We had (in this order) Chorizos, Morcillas (blood sausage), Mollejas (pancreas sweatbread), Matambre de Cerdo (brisket), Asado de Tira (ribs) and Vacio (flanksteak). You usually start with the sausages and organs and continues with the meat on the bone and steaks.



An asado is the true feast for a carnivor eventhough there is salad, bread and wine served. The meat is only prepared using salt, nothing else.

Eventhough it's winter down here we were sitting outside, in short sleeved shirts and enjoying the warmest day in weeks. The aroma from the grill got us all hungry and we nibbled on some cheese and cured hams. I think mentioning that we also had some really great Navarra Correas wine (Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon) might be superfluous.

The feast was beyond our wildest expectations. The asado turned out to be a fantastic fiesta with new friends and foods. All the different meats were fantastic, grilled to perfection.

We enjoyed the afternoon digesting the meats in the sun and learning more about Argentina's economic and political history. We learned that our host is not only a great Asador but also a brilliant conversationalist.

The sunset called for our siesta and we headed back to the city in rush hour like traffic on the seven-lane Autopista. What an awesome day!