How Do You Like Your Beef: The Flank

Today’s primal cut of conversation is the flank. The flank can be found below the loin. and is the abdominal muscle of the animal. In the United States, this cut is regularly marinated prior to cook because it it a tougher, but flavorful primal cut. It is regularly grilled, but can also be braised or cooked using moist heat.

The flank is the only primal cut in the entire animal that  is an entire muscle.  Flank steak fibers run across the entire length of the cut and is regularly cut against the grain to maximize tenderness. There are other ways that people tend to tenderize this cut of beef. Along with marinating, the cut can be butterflied, a cutting term where the cut is directly cut in half through the middle, as well as pounded.

There are no bones in this primal cut, which lends itself to some of Argentina’s favorite dishes.

Here in Argentina, flank steak is known as vacio and is regularly served in Argentina asados.  The vacio is cut by butchers here in Argentina with the thin layer of fat on the outside. The asador, or master grill man, will place vacio fat side down. With all those nice coals beneath it, the layer of fat becomes crispy  and the meat inside soaks up all this juice and flavor, making it extra delicious.

Vacio can be eaten by itself, but is also a favorite for what many Argentines call vaciopan. With vacio meaning flank, and pan meaning bread, it is pretty easy to put the two together. Vaciopan is a big fat steak sandwich. These bad boys can be eaten by themselves, but they are also regularly given a nice spoonful of chimichurri, lettuce and tomato. This is as close to a salad as you’re going to get when eating meat in Argentina.

 

How Do You Like Your Beef: The Rib

The rib is a primal cut that’s ever present for both the Argentine and American diet. Today were going to drill down into this primal cut and discover why it’s such a staple for the traditional Argentine Asado here in Argentina.

The rib primal cut, as many would imagine, is exactly where you’re going to find your ribs. There are 13 pairs of ribs, however, only ribs six through 12 belong to the rib primal. In the United States, this cut includes parts of the short rib and prime rib. These cuts are favorites for many barbecues, and can be cooked in a variety of ways because of how tender this meat is. One of the most popular in the United States is using dry heat, creating that smokey, barbecue tastes. Along with this, cuts include back ribs, standing rib roast, ribeye steak and ribeye primal. The cuts are tender, and have additional added flavor of being cooked with the bone.

Down here in Argentina, the rib is worshiped as one of the most important primal cuts in the animal. This is because from this primal cut comes two very important cuts for the typical Argentine Asado… the actual cut, asado, as well as tira de asado.

 

Asado and tira de asado are like big brother and little brother for any Argentine barbecue extravaganza. They are big, thick and meaty cuts that are left to soak up heat from hot embers on the parrilla. Asado means rack of ribs, while tira de asado would be the short ribs for cuts in United States.

Just like in the United States, the presentation for these ribs here in Argentina is sacred for any Argentine barbecue. Asado and tira de asado can be purchased as cuts at grocery stores and butchers. They are layed on the parrilla like a carpet and left to cook. On any Argentine grill, this cut is immediately recognizable.

 

Tira de asado and asado are cooked in this way for multiple reasons. By not cutting the ribs individually, the cut maintains juiciness and moisture and cooks together as an entire rack of ribs. As the embers heat this carpet of meat, the bones and bone marrow give the cut that extra taste and flavor.

When making your guest list for your asado party, the cuts tira de asado and asado must be on the VIP list. These cuts of meat are imperative parts of the Argentine culture, not to mention that they are extra tasty!

 

 

 

The Rituals of Asado, Part 1: The Picada

One of the things that you will never get on any parrilla tour in Buenos Aires is an experience or even a close up look at how real Argentines actually do asado. At a parrilla restaurant (best translation would be steakhouse, but this is actually a totally different concept), you will see an asador (grillman) or group of asadores tending to the parrilla. On the parrilla you will find any number of cuts of beef, pork and chicken, roasting nicely over a bed of hot coals.

But what won’t happen when you walk in the door, is the critical first step in what is a traditional Argentine asado, which is the picada. The picada (which comes from the word picar in Spanish which means “to bite”… so these are little bites) usually comes on a nice wooden platter, campo style (countryside) and is full of meats and cheeses otherwise referred to as fiambres (cold cuts or deli meats). Usually the picada will have ham in many forms: traditional ham, prosciutto ham, salami and perhaps other choices, but basically never turkey or chicken. Turkey in fact, is desperately difficult to find in Argentina 😦

Interlaced with the fabulous cuts of ham and salami are various cheeses, usually stemming from Italian origin: reggianito, romanito, fontina, sardo (which actually takes its name from the island of Sardenia in Italy) and the one outlier of the group that is supremely overrepresented in Argentina and underrepresented in the USA, roquefort. Along with this bounty of meats and cheeses usually comes sliced baguette, chips and or/peanuts.

This step is NEVER observed at a parrilla restaurant. You can order one of these if you must, but having an asado at someone’s house requires this. Also involved in the first step is some Argentine malbec or Fernet, the national drink of Argentina.

Step 2 of the Rituals of Asado to come in our next installment.