The asado

A Sunday, hour by hour

1. el fuego Eleven o'clock: the fire Wood or charcoal, never gas. Then wait until the embers are red and without flame.
2. la picada Guests arrive Wine, and a plate of cheese, salami and olives while the fire settles.
3. el chorizo First on the grill Chorizo and morcilla. The chorizo goes into bread with chimichurri: the choripán.
4. la carne Then the cuts Tira de asado, vacío, entraña, and for the end, the bife de chorizo. Slowly, far from the fire, two hours or more.
5. la sal gruesa Only coarse salt Nothing else: Argentine beef needs no sauces.
6. repartir Cut on the board and shared out Everyone applauds, and someone shouts: ¡Un aplauso para el asador!

• The fire is wood or charcoal, never gas; you wait until the embers are red and without flame.
• Chorizo and morcilla go on first; the meat is cooked slowly, far from the fire, for two hours or more, with only coarse salt.
• When the asador cuts and shares out the meat, everyone applauds and someone shouts for a round of applause for the asador.

Empieza a las once de la mañana con el fuego: leña o carbón, nunca gas.

He starts at eleven in the morning with the fire: wood or charcoal, never gas.

Lo primero que se pone en la parrilla es el chorizo y la morcilla.

The first thing that goes on the grill is the chorizo and the black pudding.

Entonces todos aplauden y alguien grita: "¡Un aplauso para el asador!"

Then everyone applauds and someone shouts: "A round of applause for the asador!"

What is on the grill and the table

To start

• la picada cheese, salami and olives, with wine
• el chorizo fresh pork sausage — Not the dried Spanish kind.
• la morcilla blood sausage
• el choripán chorizo in bread, with chimichurri

The cuts

• la tira de asado ribs cut across the bone
• el vacío flank
• la entraña skirt steak
• el bife de chorizo sirloin, kept for last

On the table

• el chimichurri parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar and oil
• la sal gruesa coarse salt
• el vino tinto de Mendoza red wine from Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes
• ensalada y pan salad and bread

• The meat comes in a fixed order: tira de asado, vacío, entraña, and the bife de chorizo at the end; an Argentine knows twenty cuts by name.
• Chimichurri is a sauce of parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar and oil; Mendoza makes most of Argentina's malbec.

Después viene la carne: tira de asado, vacío, entraña, y para el final, el bife de chorizo.

Then comes the meat: short ribs, flank, skirt steak, and for the end, the sirloin.

Se come con ensalada, pan y vino tinto de Mendoza, y se habla de fútbol y de política.

It is eaten with salad, bread and red wine from Mendoza, and people talk about football and politics.

The unwritten rules

In Argentina the asado is a ceremony, done on Sundays on the patio or the roof terrace, and it lasts all afternoon. The asador is almost always a man, and the grill is the one place where nobody argues with him. A gas barbecue is not an asado. Slow is the whole secret.

An asado lasts four hours and nobody is in a hurry: that is part of the recipe. Argentines and Uruguayans eat more beef per person than almost anyone in the world.

• The asado is done on Sundays, on the patio or the terrace, and lasts all afternoon; it is spoken of as a ceremony rather than a meal.
• The asador is almost always a man, and nobody argues with what he does at the grill.
• Argentines and Uruguayans eat more beef per person than almost anyone in the world.
• A four-hour asado where nobody hurries is part of the recipe.

En Argentina, el asado no es una comida: es una ceremonia.

In Argentina, the asado is not a meal: it is a ceremony.

El asador es casi siempre un hombre, y nadie le discute lo que hace.

The asador is almost always a man, and nobody argues with what he does.

Un asado dura cuatro horas, y nadie tiene prisa: eso también es parte de la receta.

An asado lasts four hours, and nobody is in a hurry: that is also part of the recipe.