I’ll cover centolla in more detail another day, but for now, so you know a little, it is like the Southern counterpart of Alaskan King Crab. Huge suckers that love cold water. The meat, sweet and succulent, is perfect on its own or in a variety of dishes. The problem is, like so many other great products in Argentina, the damn restaurants buy up all of the good quality stuff. I live in Tierra Del Fuego, the renowned location for centolla, yet what I buy in stores comes from up north in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut. Anyway, it’s pretty much available, frozen of course, year round in a couple of stores.

Here’s a quick & easy salad that I make all the time. (Note: This is my own recipe, not an authentic regional one. Everyone has their own special recipe that often has totally different ingredients.)

1 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon vinegar*
1 Tablespoon lemon juice*
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 green onion; thinly sliced then chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 small green bell pepper; finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 large celery stalk; thinly sliced then chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 pound king crab meat (or any that you can get)

Salt to taste
Tabasco pepper sauce (optional)

Pick through the crab meat to remove any pieces of shell. Break up any claw or leg meat into smaller pieces. Set aside.

In a large non-reactive bowl mix together the sour cream, vinegar, lemon juice, paprika, and black pepper. Next, mix in the onion, pepper, parsley, and celery. Gently fold in the crab meat-you want it to be a little bit chunky if possible- and add salt to taste. *Add extra vinegar and lemon juice for a little more zing. Shake in some Tabasco to taste. (I know there are 10,000 other hot sauces out there that you may think are better but it just works in this case)

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Best if prepared the day before.

This nifty table-top accessory keeps the grilled goods warm-plain and simple. Drop a few hot coals from the parrilla into the base, place the cooked meats on the top platter, and you’re good to go.

The brasero is more often found in certain parrilla restaurants than in the confines of one’s home or quincho. Why? Well at home one is probably cooking much more meat than this dinky little tray can handle. Also, the asador takes pride in his/her continued management of the grill and serving while everyone else carves into a chunk of goodness. Not to mention the parrilla is probably in somewhat close proximity to the table. However, it’s nice to have one on hand for small gatherings to give the asador a chance to be part of the fun instead of sweating away at the grill.

In a restaurant it is a totally different matter. If you order a mixed grill, or parrillada, you won’t find the server running back and forth to the parrilla every time someone wants a cut of meat fresh off the rack. Nor does anyone want their meat cooling off before the belly fills up. Nothing is worse than eating a sausage with surrounding congealed fat. Therefore, this cool little thingy allows all of the meat to be served at once while keeping that meat steaming hot so that you and your fellow diners can pick and chose if the next item to scarf down will be a juicy chorizo, crispy offal, or a succulent short rib.

Tips:

Use common sense when there are hot coals within the brasero. Don’t put it directly on top of or around any highly-inflammable surfaces. Be careful when using outdoors where it is windy. You get the point, I hope, there are hot coals inside!

I remember my initial experience at a parrilla restaurant years ago when I made my first trip to Argentina. About three-quarters of the meats listed on the menu were steaks. Tourist tunnel vision gave me the impression that the word parrilla was plastered on sign boards throughout each block. At any home I imagined anyone and everyone who had a parrilla grill must be grilling up steaks left and right. As time went by, I learned that was not always the case. Grilling up steaks at home on a parrilla that is, not eating them.

After all this time, I get a good chuckle out of all the wide-eyed expressions displayed before me when I tell someone I’m just going to grill up some steaks (bifes). Now, when I say grill up some steaks I mean just that. Whoever I cook for will receive one steak that was cooked on a grill along with perhaps a salad and some other side dish–of course there will be a few other steaks standing by in case anyone wants another. Anyway, I don’t know why I’m still surprised with these questionable looks. The answer to that is probably because for the better part of my life, firing up the grill to quickly cook a few steaks was as common as slapping ham and cheese between two slices of bread for a quick lunch. Also, um, not to mention that this is a country known for grilling meats. But a different country and culture nonetheless, so there really shouldn’t be anything to be surprised about. Still, I get a good chuckle out of it all but not in disrespect.

This happens to my quite often but here are the last two instances…

I live in a typical city where many have some sort of outdoor patio; unlike much of Buenos Aires. Everyone and their brother has a parrilla that ranges from a small metal rack on four legs to the old cut-in-half water heater/drum/container variety to indoor quinchos with prefab/custom grills. Therefore, almost every kiosco(quick shop) has piles of carbón(charcoal) for emergencies–like you didn’t buy enough bags when you went shopping earlier or spur of the moment asados are planned. There is one shop that I’m always running down to in order start the process of fulfilling my steak cravings. May happen twice a week. So one day I’m asked how often I prepare asados by the chap that is usually behind the counter.

Clerk: Hey, you’re always buying charcoal. You have an asado every day or what?

Me: Haha, no I’m just grilling some steaks.

Clerk: And what else?

Me: Just steaks.

Clerk: [Looks at me like I’m crazy] Steaks? Only steaks? That’s it?

Me: Yep

Clerk: No no no no no. You don’t just cook steaks on a parrilla. Steaks are for the plancha(grill pan). You are supposed to cook achuras(offal), chorizos, pollo, asado de tira, vacio, morcilla on the parrilla, not just steaks.

Then at a local carniceria(meat market) that I frequent, one of the butchers asked why I’m always ordering bife ancho(rib-eye) or bife angosto(strip steak) as huge chunks instead of in slices. Although I’ve seen some order these cuts as whole or in large pieces, most people just have the butcher slice them into bifes. I remember walking into a butcher shop one time and asking for one and half kilos of bife ancho. Before I could get another word out, he was in the middle of cutting the fifth steak at about 1 inch thickness. This happens with almost every new butcher or shop I encounter. You see, bifes are typically ordered somewhat thin for a quick fry in a pan(popular home lunch fare) so the butcher just assumes that’s what how you want them. I prefer to slice my own depending on what I will prepare, so I have to declare to the butcher how I want my cut before that thin-slicing trigger finger twitches. This is what happened:

Butcher: Why do you always order this as a whole cut.

Me: To cook on the parrilla of course.

Butcher: Really? Just the whole cut on the grill?

Me: No no, I slice it into steaks. I like to slice it myself.

Butcher: Ah, do you want anything else? Chorizo?

Me: No, that’s it.

Butcher: You’re just going to cook this?

Me: Yes

Butcher: [looks at me like I’m crazy] Que? Really? Just steaks? How do you prepare them?

Me: [Gave a bunch of recipes]

Butcher: Wow, I’ll have to try that.

Does everyone feel this way? No. Neither is the parrilla idolized in such a way that one should only fire it up when one wants a huge asado. For all I know a people in Mendoza might love to just grill up steaks too with nothing else. But, I’ve never been there. Or maybe that butcher who didn’t give me a strange look does the same. I didn’t ask him. But do remember this, to prevent an uprise of disgruntled friends and family members, it’s best that you just invite everyone over on weekends and serve up a whole variety of meats.

We all learn something new every day and that’s what makes the interaction between cultures so great.

Yeah, I always wanted to own a pizzeria too. Guess I’ll have to build a chain.

NYMag has a tiny piece on the profits and revenue for Nina’s Argentinian Pizzeria in New York (Hat tip to SliceNY)

“Annual Revenue: $186,000 ($18,000 is profit). ”

Well, at least I can play pizzeria owner and buy that wood-fired pizza oven in the hardware store down the street. Just need to figure out where to put it.

One usually associates an airport with heading out for or returning from a business or pleasure trip, dropping someone off, or picking someone up. Obviously all those things apply to me too but there is also another reason why I like going to the airport. The duty free shop. Actually the whole island is a duty free shop because we don’t have to pay the 21% IVA (value added tax) that breaks everyone else’s wallet around the country. You’ll find various self-proclaimed “free shops” all over the cities, but sometimes that doesn’t necessarily mean the prices will reflect that aspect.

The reason why I like this particular duty free at the airport is simply because they sell some of my favorite cookies that I guess are not currently sold in any other store around town. That in itself may not be a bad thing. You see, only one commercial flight arrives/departs per day and only around that time is the duty free open. The current arrival/departure time window is about 1 a.m to 3 a.m. Quite a ridiculous time for driving to the airport to buy cookies unless of course you have another reason to head that way-see above. Anyway, it is quite a treat to have an excuse to make a trip to the airport in order to purchase these delicious snacks to nourish my sometime sweet tooth cravings. Otherwise, I’d need to start a serious weight loss regimen or diet plan.

So just which cookies am I talking about? Those from Sugar & Spice of course. These are, hands down, the best store-bought packaged gourmet cookies that I’ve ever had here in Argentina and from what little memory I have, better than many I’ve had back in the U.S. I’m not much of a bakery shopper but for those few bakeries that I do frequent, these even blow their supposedly fresh cookies out of the water. And unlike Sugar & Spice, they don’t even do chocolate chip, just some type of sugar cookies that crumble into dust upon the first bite. Now just so you know, Sugar & Spice cookies are NOT loaded with trans fat to give them that chewy freshness in order to appear as homemade cookies like other brands out there. No, these are crispy, crunchy, and have a fantastic natural flavor. Also, they don’t skimp on added ingredients like nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate.

Biscotti

When I first bit into one of these I thought a visit to the dentist might be in order. Ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration but I did need to apply quite a few extra PSI to the action of my jaw compared to other biscottis out there. But then I remembered that these are made for dipping into liquids. A quick cup of coffee was brewed and the dunking process began. I’m very cautious when submerging any kind of bread item into coffee due to the dissolving effect. But lemme tell ya, these biscotti held up and there was still plenty of crunch leftover.

Chocolate Chip & Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Crunch

Typically when packaged cookies contain chocolate chunks those huge pieces of cocoa goodness end up being either dry and powdery or super dense. The chunks in these cookies melt in your mouth like taking a bite into a freshly opened chocolate bar. Out of all the cookies Sugar & Spice sells, these are my favorite.

Cantucci

The owner, Frank, has a good write up on his blog about Cantucci and Biscotti. Cantucci is somewhat similar to biscotti, yet the former is somewhat smaller and much softer. While there are three different types of cantucci offered, I have only been able to try the chocolate & hazelnut blend. Delicious with a deep buttery flavor.

Fudge Brownie

I have yet to see these stocked in the duty free but hopefully I can give them a try one day.

Sugar & Spice also offers a line of savory items with flavors such as pizza, parmesan, and a few others but I have yet to try them.

If you are ever in Buenos Aires, where they are much easier to find in various gourmet/specialty shops and cafes, give them a try.

Note: This is NOT an advertisement or paid/requested review.

Many true hardcore barbecuing purists in the U.S. state that if you cook anything “directly” above hot coals then you are grilling. That’s it. End of discussion. Real barbecuing is slow cooking over an indirect fire.

Some others may state that grilling is cooking quickly over hot coals while barbecuing is nice and slow with a low fire-directly or indirectly.

Then you have some who say that anything cooked on a barbecue grill is barbecuing.

Recently I came across a forum where one user linked to this site with compliments to the Argentinean way of barbecuing(or grilling) meats. Another user came along and said something like, “if it’s over an open flame, that ain’t barbecuing”. (add a Southern twang to that ain’t)

Everyone has their own opinion and that’s fine, but where exactly does Argentinean parrilla-style fit in for other purists if the subject is placed on the table? Notice I said parrilla-style not asado criollo, al palo, a la cruz, etc.(cooked on a spit or cross next to a fire which is old school, real old school, and what I’ll cover another day). Is it grilling or barbecuing? Both? This isn’t a debate or comparison between the two, just how the definition applies to a method.

Grilling, in their terms, may apply to a super thick bife de chorizo that one orders in a restaurant and is cooked in less than 30 minutes. Fine, but what about the real stuff? You know the thick chunk of asado, vacio, cordero(lamb), or lechon(young pig) that is slowly cooked for hours. Now these tasty juicy slabs can be cooked directly or indirectly depending on coal placement, but let’s keep this discussion to the direct heat method. Is that “just grillin’“?