The Argentine BBQ: Parrilla vs. Asado

One very important aspect of the Argentine culture is a BBQ. A BBQ is more than a good representation of the excellent meat quality here in Argentina; it is cultural way of socializing. When you are first introduced to a porteno (which is how they refer to themselves) almost always the first social invitation is to an asado. This is their way of sharing their food and friendship with you. An asado is similar to our BBQ's back home. Big brick grills fueled by charcoal are used to cook meat of all sorts. A typical asado consists of not just one cut or one sort of meat, but rather is consists of many cuts of meat and from many different animals. In general you will find pork and beef ribs and sausage, chicken, steak, blood sausage, and of course various entrails like the kidney, intestines, tongue, and parts of the heart. Although these cuts of meat seem strange for us, they are considered the delicacy of the asado.

While vacationing in Villa Gesell for the Easter holiday, Christina (a rotary scholar from Florida) and I were invited to an asado by some portenos we met on the beach. Of course the apartments we were staying in had 5 asado grilles, so our new friends had a small asado of chorizo and blood sausage sandwiches for us. They invited some of their friends, who were also staying in the area, and by the end of the night we were full and fully engulfed in Argentine culture. It was a wonderful experience for us both and I look forward to many more asados in the future.

Another form of an asado is called a parrilla. The difference being a parrilla is an asado in a restaurant and not at someone's home. Restaurants that offer parrillas on the menu have the brick grills built into the restaurant and the grill masters cook in front of the people dining. Like an asado a parrilla consists of many cuts and types of meat. One can order what ever they would like off the grille. The food arrives at the table on a mini-grill to keep the food warm. To get a taste for all the various meats one can order a parrilla completa, which consists of a little bit of everything. While on our vacation we tried a parrilla completa, which means I tried it all. I will say the texture of some of the entrails threw me off a bit, but they were definitely flavorful.

I've added a few pictures to show the infamous cultural activity of the BBQ. One hasn't experienced the culture until they've tried the traditional foods prepared in their traditional ways and the asado or the parrilla are the best way to dine like an Argentine.