This week’s “from the past” brings you a piece from…

“Across The Cordillera Of The Andes, And Of A Residence In Lima, Other Parts Of Peru, In The Years 1823 And 1824” by Robert Proctor, Esq.; Published in 1825.

On inquiring what could be had for supper, I found that a sheep had been killed, and as every thing was novel, I went to view the kitchen. It was a sort of shed at the end of the house, which had been once covered in, but the roof was then half off : in the middle of the earthen floor was a hole, either hollowed by use or made on purpose, in which was a wood fire, and two or three spits were stuck round in the earth, on which was threaded a side of mutton. Such is the method of making an asado or roast, which is the general dish in the country. Round the fire sat my peons, and as their appetites could not wait until the principal asado was ready, they had obtained a few long wooden skewers, with small pieces of meat upon them, which they stuck close to the fire, so as to touch the flames ; as soon as one of these was sufficiently cooked on one side, they took it up. Their method of eating was not the most elegant ; they caught hold of the meat with their teeth, while they kept the skewer in their hands : when they had cut off the piece they had bitten, they placed the skewer a second time before the fire, taking up a second and a third in turn, and serving them in the same way. Their knives are formidable weapons, and are worn stuck either in the boot or girdle.

Psst…I slice off a few small morsels here and there while the meat is slowly cooking to perfection. It’s practically impossible to resist the temptation. If someone catches you in the act, just silence them with an offering. They won’t tell anyone else, trust me.

Google Books has the whole book online here.

This week’s “from the past” brings you a piece from…

“A Mining Journey Across the Great Andes; With Explorations In The Silver Mining Districts Of The Provinces Of San Juan And Menzona, And A Journey Across The Pampas To Buenos Ayres” by Francis Ignacio Rickard; Published in 1863

Having unloaded the mules, and given them water, my servant made a fire in the yard, and we set about cooking our frugal meal, which consisted of a dish called cazuela, or broth, with meat and vegetables well boiled, and the genuine asado of the Gaucho.

The asado, or roast-beef, requires a practised hand to turn it out with the peculiar, delicious flavour for which it is celebrated among American travellers. It is generally a piece of good beef selected from the ribs, or along the loin; it is well washed, salted, and an asador, or spit, being run through it, is then placed to cook over the half-burnt embers drawn apart from the fire; the extremeties of the spit resting upon two large stones, and being turned occasionally. I must say, that for a piece of “Gaucho” roast-beef, I would most willingly give up the best dish that was ever placed on the table d’hote at the Hotel du Louvre in Paris.

Google Books has the whole book online here.

(After snagging an edition of “Carpenter’s World Travels: The Tail of the Hemisphere - Chile & Argentina” by Frank G. Carpenter (You can view a photo from it here), I’ve developed an interest in how Argentina was viewed, in the days of old, by travelers, journalists, and writers. Particularly on the subject of asado and beef–food in general too. When the New York Times unleashed some of its archives for free a while ago, I was hoping to jump on top of that and post some old school nuggets of information. Unfortunately, most of what I am seeking is still under lock and key–for a price, and it’s useless for me to post a snippet without offering a link to view the whole piece. Fortunately, however, there are many other sources of juicy archived information to be gleaned. From The Past is a new category to cover just that.)

Here’s an excerpt from “Modern Argentina, the El Dorado of to-day” (1907), by author W.H. Koebel.

Up to the present the Argentine has concerned himself very little with the various schools and fashions in diet. In the camp he is an eater of meat, pure and simple. The days have long since gone by, it is true, when an animal was wont to be slaughtered in order that it might provide the wherewithal for a single meal, and when the rest of the carcase was left upon the plain as a present for the carrion fowl. Yet, though more economical methods have supervened, meat remains yet the staple food. Until recent years, notwithstanding the richness of the soil, few, with the exception of some British Estancieros, have troubled about the cultivation of vegetables. There is an increasing tendency now, however, to add these latter luxuries to meals, and the kitchen garden is becoming a feature of the small native estancia as well as elsewhere.

The standing Camp dish is the “Asado.” This may consist of any portion for preference the ribs of cattle, or even of sheep, roasted. One may obtain “Asado” in a Buenos Aires restaurant, it is true. In which case, however succulent it may be, it is as characterless amongst dishes as is a caged robin amongst birds. In order to estimate the true ” Asado” it should be prepared by Gauchos, and partaken of on its native plain. The method of its cooking is simplicity itself. A huge iron skewer is stuck in the ground at an angle, so that the meat upon it rests over a blazing wood fire. Then, when the fare is sufficiently roasted, one of the more homely uses of the Gaucho’s large knife becomes apparent. With it each slices off the morsel he desires from the spit, and the meal proceeds with a most delightful sans gene.

“Asado con cuero” is a dish afforded by beef cooked in similar fashion. But in this case the hide has been suffered to remain, and the meat is roasted in this latter. The dish was formerly far more common than is at present the case. Indeed, in view of the increased value of the hide, the fact of being offered an ” Asado con cuero ” may be taken as a special compliment.

While the ideas of slaughtering a whole cow just for some ribs has faded away and roasting meat with its hide occurrs mostly at festivals out in the countryside these days, the principles are still the same. You can’t compare a slab of restaurant meat to asado in the campo, nor does anyone give much thought to veggies other than cleansing their palates with a few nibbles off some salad, potatoes, or roasted peppers while carving into their meat.