The carniceria had a table saw!

9 kilos of bomb-ass meatIf there’s one thing that I just absolutely love about Argentina, it’s the meat culture. Basically, they just go hard here. Firstly, there are countless “parrillas” (i.e. barbeque restaurants) in this city and country. When I say barbeque, I literally mean that there’s a “asador” (griller) tending coals and manning a grill, inside a restaurant. They’re literally barbequing right in front of you. It’s awesome.

I recently traveled around this lovely country for my spring break, and somehow ended up in San Juan, Argentina, hanging out with a bunch of awesome people at a skydiving club (VERY long story for another post), and they kindly invited myself and my two friends I was traveling with to join them for an “asado” (i.e. barbeque). We went with our new friend Mauricio to the “carniceria” (meat store) to shop for our feast. They do not mess around in San Juan. They no joke had an entire side of a cow hanging in the fridge, and proceeded to cut parts straight off the cow for us. Then, when Mauri asked for some ribs, the guy cut them with a table saw. That’s right, the carniceria has a table saw. After it was all said and done, we walked out of that joint with a whopping 9 kilos of meat (and that’s not even including the 13 chorizo sausages). For those not on the metric system, that’s about 20 pounds.

We took a quick trip back to Mauricio’s house, where he picked up his tools (every asador has got to have his own knife and sharpener) and then we headed back to the skydiving club (where the asado was being held) and got ready to cook. As we were informed by Mauricio, the people in Buenos Aires use “carbon” (charcoal) while the folks out in San Juan, they use nothing but the best: “leña” (wood). They love their meat so much that they don’t dare jeopardize the flavor by using charcoal (our friends out in San Juan would be appalled by the concept of a “gas grill”). As far as preparation of the meat: salt. Argentines don’t care much for sauces or marinades because they don’t want to take away from the true flavor of the meat. With three different cuts of beef, two types of ribs, and sausage, coupled with some cold brew, made for without a doubt the best and most complete asado I’ve had in Argentina.