The mainstream media is filled with articles these days about how you must try the beef and wine in Argentina. You must have a steak and malbec they say. Do they mention beer? Maybe. Fernet? I have yet to see it. Probably because these journalists haven’t enjoyed an asado in someone’s backyard or quincho (the indoor barbecue party playroom).

Although Fernet may be spotted at tables in parrilla restaurants, you don’t see it as often there as you do at a personal asado gathering. Where you’ll usually find a few guys at one end of the table having a lively discussion while ever so often refilling their glasses with this dark thick liquid-sometimes with a touch of Coca-Cola. Some start with Fernet and stick with it from the beginning to end while others crack open the bottle when no more meat will be consumed.

Fernet Branca, that’s what I’m talking about. If you’ve never tried it or anything similar, well, you need to take a swig at least once in your life. However, that first taste will probably bring back memories of your early life when you experimented with the taste of rubber bands. Some love it while others hate it with a passion that will even make a grown man cringe upon taking a whiff of this herbal alcoholic beverage. Me, although it isn’t something that is always stocked in the bar, I like it on occasion. A long time passed before I reached that point, let me tell you.

Give it a try. It’ll grow hair on your chest.

Salmuera (brine) is a fantastic, yet overly simple, concoction to use as a basting sauce (previously mentioned in the simple adobos post). I’ve said before that salt is largely the only seasoning used on barbecued meats in Argentina. Salmuera stays in line with that tradition yet also includes the added benefit of keeping meats that require lengthy cooking times from drying out. If you want to go one step further, you can introduce a little extra zing by adding one or two of your favorite herbs, spices, fruit peels/zest, or even chile peppers.

Do you salt the meat beforehand if you are going to use salmuera? Some people do but I usually don’t-depends on the meat. You can always add salt later. Once again, this is one of those things that is best left up to you and what works out best.

A friend introduced me to this delicious salmuera con ajo (garlic brine) some time ago and I must say that it has become quite a favorite to use on asado de tira (cross cut strips of ribs). The salt breaks down the piquancy punch that garlic likes to throw at our tongues. The end result is a subtle salty garlic touch that mildly accompanies the flavor of the meat instead of overpowering it.

1 Cup Water
4 cloves garlic, minced (more if you really love garlic)
1-3 Tablespoons course salt (the amount of salt depends on your taste and usage)

Let it sit for an hour at room temperature before use. Brush or spoon over the meat a few times on each side while cooking. I prefer using a spoon in order to get a good distribution of those garlic chunks and brine.

If you want to bring out the flavor or essence of ingredients (a must for dried herbs and fruit peels/zest), heat the salmuera in a sauce pan up to a point when it is just about to boil. Then remove from the burner, add the ingredients, and allow to cool.

Click Here For The Matambre Challenge Overview

Reminder
Remember this is half fun and half research. The results of this challenge may not be indicative of whether or not these methods of preparation do what they are supposed to do. Sometimes you just get a poor quality cut of meat that nothing can defeat yet may work wonders for a high quality cut.

The Challengers In Round One Are:

• Marinated in milk
• Simmered in milk

Plain:

Scored, seasoned with salt, and cooked on medium-low fire for about 20 minutes each side.

Marinated In Milk:

“That’s because you have to let it sit overnight in milk.” The reply I’ve received on occasion when mumbling to myself out loud about any tough piece of meat. Also, I’ve seen the direction to marinate matambre in milk from a few recipes out there in web world. I’ve used milk a few times to marinate calamari and sweetbreads and that worked wonders, but now is the time to see how it affects matambre. The meat is beef and the milk is from a cow so what the hay?

Low-fat milk was chosen. Better to just hit middle ground. Tossed it into a Ziploc® bag and let it sit for almost a day in the fridge. Upon removal from the milk I noticed that the meat retained much of its outer color compared to the grayish hues you get from other liquids–acidic or not. “Haha you can’t defeat me Mr. Milk.” I gave the meat a quick rinse and patted it down with some paper towels. Tossed it on the grill right next to the plain in order receive the same amount of heat and cooking time.

Simmered In Milk:

The 5-star milk bath spa treatment. I was never offered this method by word of mouth, however I did find it in a few recipes out there, particularly for matambre a la pizza (matambre that is topped like a pizza). Actually a commenter in the first challenge post pointed out this method for the pizza style as well.

I had an idea of what I was going to get into with this before actually trying it out with matambre. In the U.S., I sometimes did the quick and dirty way of boiling/simmering to create tender ribs slathered in bbq sauce when there wasn’t much time for a long smoke. (Purists, before you say anything, I know. I know. But remember I said quick and dirty. Not the right way.) With this method the bbq sauce helps in two ways. First, you keep the meat from drying out which can happen very quickly with boiled meat. Second, you can partially disguise the fact that you boiled the meat first. You won’t have that great smoky taste achieved by slow cooking, but you’ll have decent ribs that are at least tender and some people probably won’t know you boiled them first.

Ribs have bones and typically a good amount of fat all over the place. That keeps the meat moist in most parts no matter how you cook it. With matambre, you have an outer layer of fat on one side that is separated from the meat by a thin membrane. Also, there are no inner layers of fat or fat marbling. I knew that if this meat wasn’t going to be topped or basted with anything, I’d be in trouble. But, I wanted to try it anyway. No basting brine was planned for this round but maybe in the future.

In the pot I put 2 parts milk and 1 part water. I did this to prevent the pan from getting scorched on the bottom and that is not fun to clean when it happens. Even though I scored the meat, I was afraid the simmering might still cause some drastic curling. I decided to give it a nice simmer for an hour. Some recipes called for thirty minutes while others said 2 hours. Middle ground again. Fortunately curly did not happen much, only around the corners. However, as with all boiled meats, I ended up with a hideous, let’s not leave out grotesque, grayish-brown slab of stewed meat. As I moved it to the grill I thought to myself that this could become seriously parched. The meat needed a quick blast of heat on both sides to crisp it up a big notch in order to somewhat hide the fact that any precooking occurred. So this slice ended up with its own special area on the grill with an abundant amount of coals. About 8 minutes on each side.

The Results:

Plain
The muscle fibers were making popping noises while chomping. Too bad, because the meat had a lot of flavor and was super juicy.

Marinated In Milk
The meat was much lighter on the outside than the plain. Looked almost like grilled pork. There wasn’t too much of a difference in taste compared to plain but I did detect a slightly richer flavor; that was a nice improvement. The marinating hardly took a bit out of the toughness. If plain was 0 and what I was looking for was 10, I’d give this method a 2.

Simmered In Milk
The parrilla performed a few magic tricks, just a few mind you, and gave our cranky ol matambre a slight makeover. The fatty side crisped up nicely while the other side did away with the gray and and achieved a nice brown. The meat was dry, no very dry, like eating sawdust. Pork tenderloin that has been overcooked is what I’d compare this to. The rubbery texture was defeated but juiciness was totally sacrificed.

Although the challengers failed to impress me, I won’t rule these two methods out for future use. The marinated in milk cut was just slightly better so it is possible that some tweaks can be made. Also, maybe if I basted the cut that was simmered with a brine solution the end result might not have been so dry. Some say to marinate and simmer in milk, so maybe I’ll give that a try too.

My wife asked me to me if I was going to give up. No no no, the fun has just begun. Till next time…

Finally got around to putting up an “about” page. Upper left under the logo below the home page link. Probably reads like a !@#!ing 6th grade book report, like the rest of what I write, but at least its something. I’ll add some more stuff to it now and then but until that time….here you go.

About Me and This Site

Almost have the first Matambre Challenge post ready but I’m still a bit groggy from last night. We celebrated a first year birthday party for the son of a friend. Party started at 10pm and yes, to answer your question, even one year olds like to celebrate into the late hours in Argentina. I planted myself near the parrilla with the guys who did the actual cooking and was fed way to much fernet, beer, and wine.

Matambre translated into English means shoe leather. Some might try to convince you that it is a word mash up of mata (to kill) and hambre (hunger) to equal matambre (hunger killer). Pay no attention to them.

I imagine hunger killer was chosen because your jaw will be in so much pain after eating this flavorful yet chewy meat that the slightest thought of food will never enter your mind. Nor will your system be able to digest that rubberized strip that you just consumed.

There is a matambre post sitting around and collecting dust somewhere around here. I decided to keep it there until I defeat the dragon that is known as the cut matambre de vaca. Often translated as thin beef flank steak, the cut is basically belly meat that runs from the chest to the flank. Not to be confused with the “other” flank steak known as vacio. When matambre de vaca is used to prepare matambre arrollado, or rolled thin beef flank steak, you get this slow cooked succulent tender meat rolled around vegetables, spices, and a sort of bread stuffing mixture. More into the whole matambre usage thing when I dust off the other post. The actual matambre cut that is grilled by itself is another story.

Matambre a la parrilla, or grilled thin flank steak, can end up other end of the spectrum–shoe leather–if not prepared properly or if the quality of meat is poor. You see, I’ve enjoyed some tender matambre that was cooked quite rapidly but that happened once every blue moon. In many other instances each morsel of meat took at least a minute to chew, sometimes more. You really don’t know what you’re going to get when you toss that meat on the grill. I’ve ruined a few meals with what I thought would be tender matambre yet ended up with something that would have sent us to the dentist for false teeth if fully consumed. This is probably why you won’t see it on many restaurant menus.

With many other meats you know what to expect and how to handle them. Rib meat and brisket always should be cooked slowly. Tenderloin is super juicy and tender when you cook it rare, cook it too long and you get a dry sawdust texture. When you look up recipes or advice for those types of meat, what I just said about them is typically consistent with what others say. Matambre, on the other hand is quite unique. Everyone has their own version and many of those vary extensively. I want to find a sure-fire way that works every time whether or not the meat is of good quality.

I’ve decided to create The Matambre Challenge. Think of it as a contest, a reality show of sorts, where the contestants are different methods of preparation and cooking. I will search the web, cookbooks, ask around, and create my own experiments. The winner will be included in my main matambre post that has yet to be seen. Simply because I don’t want to be one of those out there that say, “Oh you have to cook it this way,” yet that way still produces shoe leather.

The rules are simple:

- With each challenge the contestants will face off against a plain jane control: a scored piece of matambre that is not even seasoned with salt.

- Preparation needs to stay true to what is consistent with the style of cooking, preparation, and ingredients used around various locales in Argentina.

- Each contestant will be sliced from the same cut, but in a way where each portion will have similar properties such as the thickest and thinest parts from the same area.

This is not a scientific experiment. I’m not going to test ten different variations at once. Sure there are flaws but the main objective is to beat the control and discover a method that really stands out.

Once in a while, I like to peruse (I think that’s the first time I used that word) through menus of Argentinean (+/- style) restaurants in other countries around the world to see how well it is represented. When I say represented I mean that it reflects a general consensus of the cuisine, yet not necessarily regional specific, although sometimes that does and should come into play. The focus isn’t what should be on the menu, more of how the menu shouldn’t be butchered to an extent.

“Hey, make some of that real chimichurri that everyone eats down there”. “Wait, isn’t this supposed to have chipotle peppers and cilantro?”

If I go to dine at restaurant that classifies itself as authentic German cuisine, I don’t want to see the menu filled with items such as schnitzel topped with a chile lime cilantro pecan puree with a mango juice chardonnay reduction. Nor would I want to see a Nepalese restaurant offer momo with a chipotle roasted garlic and habanero dashi dipping sauce. That’s fine if you are a trendy modern restaurant that likes to fuse cuisines but please name and label yourself as such or just leave out the labeling altogether.

I came across this menu the other day that honestly made me feel like I was looking at an English language menu culmination of various restaurants just down the street from me.

El Gaucho Grill located in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Click Here To View The Menu (PDF file)

Sandwich De Milanesa con Papas Fritas
Lomito Argentino con Papas Fritas

Ensalada Mixta (Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Onions)!
Ensalada de Zanahoria, Ensalada de Remolacha, Ensalada Rusa, that’s right!

Chorizo, Morcilla, Mollejas, CHINCHULINES

Matambre Arrollado, Lengua A La Vinagreta, Mayonesa De Ave!

Asado De Tira, Bife de Chorizo, Vacio, Costillas de Cerdo!

Tarta De Acelga con Huevos Duros!

Ok basta, that’s enough. These guys are spot on. I don’t know how about their actual food, service, preparation, etc but just by looking at their menu they received an A grade in my book as representing themselves as an generalized Argentinean restaurant that serves what is typically labeled as porteño cuisine. Does it represent various regional fares, no, but obviously the owner or whoever created the menu definitely factored in recreating a typical Argentinean menu found throughout many parts of the country.

Wow, 2006 went by really fast! I hate when time just flies away. We decided to take an excursion out to Cabo San Pablo for New Years Day. The weather was beautiful and I think everyone was out in the countryside having a picnic, asado, or just drinking some mate in the sun while enjoying the tranquility of nature. There were cars almost all along the route with fires burning and that savory smell of roasted meat. If you were hoping for some tasty looking asado pics, I’m sorry for sandwiches and snacks are all we packed. Summer might just stick around for a little bit longer so maybe one of these weekends.

This was my first time to Cabo San Pablo and what an amazing place. Off the beaten path a bit so you don’t see it much on typical itineraries for tours in Tierra Del Fuego. I think that’s a good thing judging from the national park (Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego) that is popular down near Ushuaia. Not that that park is super packed with tourists, just that so many tour buses go through there in the summer that if you are anywhere near the unpaved roads you’re going to eat dust.

The wind was a bit strong and cool, like usual, so it was quite a challenge to find a spot to settle down. Quite a weird feeling to the body, your skin feels very hot from the sun but also gets blasted by cold air, but that’s almost an everyday occurrence down here in summer. Guanacos, like a llama, were everywhere a long the route. I’ve never seen so many in one day. Calafate bushes were everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Unfortunately the berries won’t ripen until late January or early February and we’ll definitely have to head back then to gather a bucket of them. That’s if the guanacos and other animals don’t eat them all up first. In the end we decided to relax at the base of a dune in front of the shipwreck you see above. The Desdemona, which was was forced to run aground in 1985.