One more week, and we’re staying in the same continent as last week, but we’re moving south into the first Latin American country. This week I’m cooking something from the land of beef: Argentina!

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country located in the southern cone of South America, with a claimed portion of Antarctica. It is the second-largest country in South America, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world.

Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. And something interesting is that the provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but all exist under a federal system.

Argentina is a regional power and retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs.

Besides many of the pasta, sausage, and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous and Criollo creations, including empanadas, locro (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd), humita, and mate.

In the opening of this post, I mentioned Argentina is the land of beef because it has the highest consumption of red meat in the world, traditionally prepared as asado, the Argentine barbecue. It is made with various types of meat, often including chorizo, sweetbread, chitterlings, and blood sausage.

Just like for last week’s Antigua and Barbuda, I chose an easy dish. But it’s so representative of Argentina that… how could I not do it?

I prepared the famous asado, with four different types of meat. But what is an asado without the famous chimichurri sauce? Certainly not a real Argentinian asado ಠ_ಠ. So of course I also prepared some chimichurri to accompany the meat.

There are so many meats to choose from, and as much as you want to prepare. This week I chose these cuts:

Another easy dish to cook, but also another cooking technique.

The best—and honestly, the only way—to cook an awesome asado is on the grill. So I had to get my hands on one… thankfully my mom has one! So we organized a family reunion to have some Argentinian food.

As for the chimichurri, as delicious as it is, its ingredients are easy to find. The only thing I struggled with a bit was figuring out which vinegar to use, because virtually every recipe I consulted only mentioned “vinegar” and that’s it. I was this close 👌🏼 to using white vinegar when I found two different recipes that mentioned chimichurri is prepared with red wine vinegar. If anything, it can be substituted with apple cider vinegar, but preferably no substitutions! So… that’s what I’m using.

Another beauty of the Argentinian asado is that unlike US BBQ that often include dry-rubs or heavy sauces, the meat has little to no seasoning. If anything, just sprinkle it with salt before taking it to the grill.

Besides that, there are no prerequisites for this dish.

There’s really not much guidance here. Preparation is pretty much like any BBQ.

I did my asado on a Friday night with my fam, and it was the best way to spend a Friday night.

For starters, I prepared the chimichurri three hours before I started grilling so the flavors of all the ingredients could infuse together for a couple of hours before being ready to eat. And that was a great idea because the flavor was more intense than the moment I finished preparing it.

If I can recommend something, it is to make it one day before the asado so it’s fully infused.

Being in the same continent, I’ve had plenty of chimichurri before, so I can say with confidence that I got the texture and the flavor right.

As for the meat… I have to admit my favorite cut was the asado de tira (short ribs). They were more tender than I expected. Then the picaña, just because it’s one of my favorite cuts. The bife de chorizo was also fantastic, since it’s basically a New York cut. And as for the vacío, I liked that one a lot too because it doesn’t have too much fat, but I admit that I could have done something to it beforehand to make it more tender.

In the end, I’d say it was a success: great meat, a great sauce, and some grilled vegetables. Remember to always eat your vegetables!

Cooking is not only about nurturing the body; it is much more than that. Cooking is about bringing family and friends together. Enjoying not only the food, but the process of preparing, cooking, serving, and eating all together.

For me, being the one cooking, I feel so happy presenting my dishes and seeing the faces of those trying them — just like me discovering new flavors.

Cooking is not just eating food. It’s a whole experience that brings people closer.

For next week, I go back to preparing a European dish for the next country on the list: Armenia!