Probably one of the top 10 things I miss about the U.S. is the large selection of beers, both international and domestic, available throughout most of the country. I miss the days of going to the liquor store or supermarket, finding new beers to try or stocking up on favorites that never fail. Having to wait three-damn-too-long-quarters of a year to be able to savor mouth watering seasonal micro brews. Parties or BBQs where everyone brings different beers to sample; except there is always one who ruins it by bringing Miller Lite. Attending a party where you don’t know what to expect until they point you toward the cooler and upon opening it you find 5 different brands of beer. Like opening up a treasure chest. For some wine has the same effect, but for me it is beer. I love beer. Good beer that is. And when I drink beer I like to drink it from the bottle, a nice cold 12 oz. bottle. In Argentina, things are a bit different, not always in a bad way, just different.

For one thing, liter-sized bottles dominate. Go to a local restaurant and you are more likely to see a group at a table sharing a liter bottle with small glasses than off the tap or individual cans/bottles. You go to the supermarket and you see the beer isle filled mostly with liter bottles then a small section of cans and bottles; offered individually or in six-packs. Liter bottles are cheap. Individual-sized bottles/cans are sometimes not that far off from the price of a liter bottle. Also, there is a system in Argentina where buying in bulk does not mean paying less. It rarely exists. Buy a six pack or a case of beer and you will pay the individual price per can. Sometimes there are promos where you get a beer for free but not often.

So when throwing an asado or having a party, you can see that it would be quite costly to have a cooler full of individual beers instead of the cheaper option of just having liters.

Up next: Beer that’s available.

Finally! Finally, I’ve been able to find a good cut of entraña, or skirt steak. Well, I could’ve tried harder if say I went to every butcher in town and told them to reserve me a cut and to call when they did, but I didn’t. That’s not to say I haven’t found any on my previous adventures, but when I did they didn’t look that fresh. I’d rather spare you the horror of viewing a picture of raw meat with brown blemishes.

Therefore, I’ve come to the conclusion that entraña is not a very popular cut in my area. (Or is it?) In Buenos Aires, it would be as easy as finding hamburger meat, but good luck finding anything usable here. You don’t even see it listed on the huge price boards above the meat counters. Every other cut is there except this one. When confronted the butchers aren’t much help either. Do you have any entraña?…No….Why is it so hard to find in this town?….(incomprehensible mumbling). I’m starting to suspect that some sort of conspiracy is occurring and they take the meat home for themselves. Some day I’ll find out where this elusive cut disappears to.

In the meantime…enjoy…Skirt Steak - Entraña

Update:
A couple readers thought that I blew it and burned the meat upon seeing the first photo I posted here. View it here. As you can see with the photo below, the true original, there is a bad blue shadow and glow going on due to bad lighting. The meat had no charring whatsoever. I tried my best to edit it out while keeping the meat true to the original color. The meat ended up looking burnt in some areas and I made a bad judgment to upload it until I could get another photo. I should have posted an disclaimer but didn’t. My apologies.

Therefore, I’ll keep this poor image here until I can shoot another.

Update Two

Ok, Patricia in the comments section, kindly offered a way better version than the charred beyond recognition disaster I created. (see below)