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The Argentine asado, cut by cut

The beef, the cuts that go on the grill in order, the two sauces, the fire and the parrillas where it is served.

  1. Origin · Argentina, the PampasArgentine beefThe Pampas, British breeds on grass, the frozen-meat boom, the Hilton quota and the criollo cuts.
  2. Main course · River Plate embersAsadoEmbers shovelled under the grill, coarse salt, and the order: chorizo, offal, then the large cuts.
  3. Cut · Plate, chuck & ribShort ribsThe lower ends of the ribs: asado de tira across the bones, English cut between them, galbi in thin strips.
  4. Cut · Whole flank, slow fireVacíoThe Argentine belly-wall cut: what it contains, why it is cooked slowly, and how it differs from flank steak.
  5. Cut · Outside skirt, membrane onEntrañaThe outside skirt on the Argentine parrilla: whole, membrane on, coarse salt, 3–4 minutes a side.
  6. Buying guide · Two cuts of the asadoEntraña vs vacíoDiaphragm against belly wall: muscles, weight, fire and time, doneness, names and how each one is bought.
  7. Cut · Under the hide, rolledMatambreThe thin muscle between hide and ribs: rolled around egg and vegetables and sliced cold, or grilled slowly.
  8. Cut · Rump cap, fat onPicanhaThe rump cap with its fat on: churrasco, tapa de cuadril, coulotte, and how to buy and slice it.
  9. Sauce · Asado, hand-choppedChimichurriThe green sauce of the asado: parsley, garlic, oregano, chili, vinegar and oil, chopped by hand and rested for hours.
  10. Sauce · Raw, for the asadoSalsa criollaOnion, pepper and tomato in vinegar, the asado's second sauce: acid that cuts the fat. And its Peruvian namesake.
  11. Cooking · Embers, not flamesGrilling over fireHeight above the embers is the main control: fuels compared, hot and cool zones, and how the Argentine parrilla works.
  12. Steakhouse style · Over embersArgentine parrillaGrill and restaurant: hardwood embers, salt only, achuras first, then asado de tira, vacío, bife de chorizo.
  13. Parrilla · Palermo, Buenos AiresDon JulioPalermo parrilla opened at the end of the 1990s: grass-fed heavy steers over wood fire.