I recently finished reading an excellent essay by New York Times columnist Pico Iyer entitled, “The Joy of Quiet”. The article details the ways in which our technological, plugged-in culture has started to lose touch with the simple joys of being alone and engaged in a quiet activity. Iyer touches on the problems associated with our modern-day attachment to devices: the constant staring at electronic screens when gathering with others, addictions to internet and social media, the yearning for costly “black out hotels” with no wi-fi signal to get a small respite from connectivity.
But the paragraph that struck me the most was:
“Maybe that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi; these aren’t New Age fads so much as ways to connect with what could be called the wisdom of old age. Two journalist friends of mine observe an ‘Internet sabbath’ every week, turning off their online connections from Friday night to Monday morning, so as to try to revive those ancient customs known as family meals and conversation…”
Perhaps this is what I love most about asado culture: an unwavering commitment to the meal and its participants, free of technological distraction. Asado is, by its very nature, a very “low-tech” activity—a fire is started, wood burns to coals, coals cook meat, meat is carved and served by hand for each guest to enjoy. One doesn’t need electricity, batteries, or an internet signal to partake in the experience. The result is a celebration of food, fire, and a true human connection to those gathered around us. At the same time, there is a profound cognitive dissonance at work as participants partake in an activity that is centuries old, but feels increasingly rare and uncomfortable.
And so, I invite all of my readers to participate in the “Asado Unplugged Challenge”.
China’s growing economy and surging middle class has lead to an increased cosmopolitan culture in many of its cities. One result is the expansion of “exotic” dining experiences not often found in the Far East. Many urban Chinese, replete with additional discretionary income, are looking to spend it in restaurants offering non-traditional cuisine.
Sensing this, Diego Kuo, a 33-year old Buenos Aires native, opened Che Diego! this past December, Beijing’s second Argentinean restaurant in the city and the first one run by an actual Argentine.
Diego Kuo, owner of Beijing’s first Argentine-run restaurant
Spearheaded by Argentinian chef Maria Olivera and barbecue master Luis Garcia, it has been sought out by both locals and expats who are eager to sample its unique Argentine offerings. Among the most popular, according to Kuo, are asado, or Argentine-style barbecue, the empanada appetizer and a stew known as locro.
With more Argentine restaurants popping up in China as well as the award-winning Porteño in Sydney, Australia, it is clear that Argentine cuisine is starting to make its mark in the eastern hemisphere. Let’s hope this becomes a worldwide trend.
Our little girl has arrived! On August 29th, Mrs. Gaucho and I welcomed our first child into the world. In honor of her arrival, I will likely be celebrating with an asado some time in the near future. Apologies for the temporary hiatus from writing…still getting used to all the responsibilities of fatherhood. That said, I have some down time with my paternity leave and should have some new content within the next few days.
This past weekend, on October 23rd, Gaucho Garcia sold its first grill. The grill is identical to the grill seen in the My Grill tab on the blog and has all the same features, including V-groove grilling surface, drip pan, and crank handle for adjusting grill height. The sale was made to a gentleman in Sacramento who goes by the name Joe F.
While details regarding sales of the grills has been kept private thus far, Gaucho Garcia will be rolling out an entire e-commerce website in the coming months. If you’re interested in learning more about a full product launch, sign up for the Gaucho Garcia mailing list.
Joe F. stated that the reason he was interested in purchasing a Gaucho Garcia grill was because “the unique design was unsurpassed.” He also added that he really liked how “the V-groove grates prevented flare ups, channeled excess fat down into the drip pan, and the adjustability gave him all the cooking temperatures he needed.”
Joe F., we salute you as Gaucho Garcia’s first ever customer!!!!
Gaucho Garcia was in attendance for the majority of the 2011 Eat Real Fest in Oakland’s Jack London Waterfront. All I can say is that the event has been outstanding and there were so many terrific food vendors and exhibitors that took time to talk to us. I want to spend a couple of days gathering notes, photos, and quotes from those interviewed, but please check back with The Gaucho’s full coverage.
In the meantime, did anyone else attend? What was your favorite dish? Demonstration? Funny stories or delicious disasters? Share in the comments.
Gaucho Garcia has lately been in communication with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal named Katy McLaughlin. McLaughlin, whose husband is from Uruguay, has deftly covered a variety of subjects related to hardwood grilling and South American cuisine over the past few years. Because so few well-written, English-language resources on the topic exist, I felt compelled to offer links to a few of Ms. McLaughlin’s most poignant stories from the Journal. Here’s hoping she continues the trend and keeps on providing insightful looks into asado culture.
Love and Barbecue (Sept. 6, 2008) Provides the back story to meeting her Uruguayan husband the some of the cultural differences between North and South American barbecue.
Big-City Meal, a Little Hard to Find (June 19, 2009) Profiles Argentine chef, Francis Mallmann, and the opening of his restaurant, Garzon, in rural Uruguay.
Wholly Cow! A Few Brave Grillers Go ‘Nose-to-Tail’(May 10, 2011) Describes the adventures of one South Carolina man who attempted to mimic the old gaucho method of grilling a whole steer over a hardwood fire.
Grills Gone Wild (May 14, 2011) Highlights a growing trend, especially amongst the chef community, of using hardwood grilling techniques for cooking fruits and vegetables and the different flavors produced by such methods.
Do you know of other stories on asado and South American grilling that have been covered by mainstream American media outlets? If so, please link to them in the comments and let’s keep growing this body of knowledge.
The following is a guest post from a friend of the gaucho, Josh Dyer, who is a member of the Pessagno Winery Cellar Club. He recently attended a paella event (featuring 500 lbs. of paella!) at the vineyard and shared his thoughts on the incredible food, wine, and display of wood fire cooking. The themes seemed appropriate for the first ever guest post on Gaucho Garcia.
Custom-built paella pan over wood fire
Here are the pictures from the Paella fest at the Pessagno Winery south of Salinas, California which was held on August 27, 2011. According to the Pessagno family, there was 250+ pounds of seafood in it and 500 pounds total of paella in the 4.5 foot diameter pan that they imported from Spain. There were 6 handles on the pan and it took 6 big guys to take the paella off.
You can see the custom built stand in the first picture that the paella was cooked over wood fire on a custom-built stand specially made to fit the large paella pan. In addition, the winery offered two barrels of not-yet-released Santa Lucia Highland Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which were entirely self-serve. Pessagno’s other 12+ wines were all open and being poured liberally.
Greatest wine event I’ve ever been to, paella came out incredible. The cooks were saying that the previous three times they did this, they burned the bottom layer of the paella, but this time it crisped up like an oily rice potato chip that people were just grabbing off the pan. 150-200 people were in attendance and the paella was nearly all gone as you can see. I personally had 3 plates.
I highly recommend that any and all members of the Gaucho Garcia community attend in the future. Great chance to watch some large-scale hardwood cooking as well as enjoy the fabulous food and wine offered at the event. To learn more about the Pessagno Winery Cellar Club, please click here for more information.
Many of you know that Gaucho Garcia is an avid follower of the Argentine chef/author/visionary Francis Mallmann. Mallmann is the owner of three restaurants and the author of the Seven Fires cookbook (which I reviewed in this post). Anthony Bourdain, former chef/world traveler/food enthusiast is host of the very popular show “No Reservations” which airs on the Travel Channel.
Recently, the two of them sat down to discuss the virtues of hardwood grilling, asado, slow foods methods of cooking, and a variety of other subjects. You can watch a clip of the interview below, but I wanted to mention a few of my favorite quotes because the two men so eloquently capture the essence of the grilling culture that Gaucho Garcia seeks to promote. Truly, if there was a conversation that could describe the fundamental tenets of Argentine asado, it would be this.
Mallmann: “Waiting is a wonderful thing, you know…Patience just brings so many good things.”
Bourdain: “It is a return to an extremely primitive, no bullsh*t form of cooking”
Bourdain: “Elemental, fundamental, and delicious…Mallman’s methods diverge barely at all from the cave, yet are executed with somewhat more precision”
Mallmann: “I always say that if I have to choose a language that will reunite all the countries of South America, it would be fire. Because fire is a language is for us”.
Bourdain: “Fire—wherever and whenever humans have sat around a fire and waited for meat to cook something universal has occurred.”
I recently learned that Chipotle Mexican Grill–the popular, nationwide fast-food taqueria–buys more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant company in the country. And this summer, the company committed to using more than 10 million pounds of local produce in restaurants.
This runs counter to the business model at Taco Bell, which I commented on earlier this year in this post, when a lawsuit was filed that claimed that Taco Bell used an inordinate amount of filler ingredients in its beef products. That lawsuit was later dropped, but Taco Bell went into full PR-spin mode and has subsequently spent plenty of ad dollars trying to dispel the notion that it’s beef isn’t as bad as described in the lawsuit.
Chipotle has long been an advocate for sustainable and naturally-raised meat products, but I always felt like this might just be a convenient way to cash in on the local/organic/sustainable craze prevalent in American food culture these days. Nothing really convinced me that this was more than trivial lip service to get appease customers’ conscience when deciding to indulge in fast food. Chipotle, I stand corrected. If fast food is going to be a mainstain in American dining, at least there is one company willing to educate its customers and advocate for more sustainable livestock practices.
Check out this video, released by Chipotle, which features some great story-telling animation and a Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay’s “Back to the Start”.
Simply put: I'm a North American in love with South American barbecue. I first learned the art of asado several years ago from my wife's family in Argentina and since that time, my mission has been to bring the joy of hardwood grilling to as many others as possible ...Read more
About The Site
Gaucho Garcia aims to be the definitive English language resource on the topic of South American hardwood grilling. Despite the popularity of the asado throughout South America and the rest of the world, there seems to be little information available for English speakers on the subject.
In that respect, Gaucho Garcia will serve as a forum for individuals who share the same passion for hardwood grilling ...Read more
What is a Gaucho?
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil. The word gaucho could be described as a loose equivalent to the North American "cowboy", but the culture of gauchos is distinctly South American. Gauchos often led a nomadic life as they herded cattle throughout large swaths of the continent. With no way of preserving meat while on the range, gauchos would butcher a head of cattle and immediately cook it over an open fire. This was the origin of the first asado and is a tradition still popular today.
Join the exclusive Gaucho Garcia mailing list. Receive insider news on
recipes, events, and future product launches.
Subscribe with RSS, or get with us on Facebook or Twitter
