Asado is cuts of meat, usually beef, which are cooked on a grill (parrilla) or open fire. Asado is quite popular in the Pampa region of South America, and it is the traditional dish of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and the Southern States of Brazil. Beef is meat obtained from a bovine. ... The Pampas (from Quechua, meaning plain) are the fertile South American lowlands that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost end of Brazil, covering more than 750,000 km² (290,000 square miles). ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

An Argentine asado typically has a sequence of meats presented by the asador (the cook). First are the chorizos, morcillas, chinchulines, mollejas and other organs. Sometimes these are served on a coal heated brasero. Then costillas or asado de tira (ribs) are served. Next comes vacio (flank steak), the matambre and possibly chicken and chivito. An asado also includes bread, a simple mixta salad of lettuce, tomato and onions, or could be accompanied with a mixture called verdurajo, (grilled vegetables), a mixture made with potatoes, corns, onions and eggplant cooked in the parrilla and condimented with olive oil and salt, which is then accompanied by beer, wine and other beverages. Dessert is usually fresh fruit. Chorizo Chorizo is a pork sausage originating from Spain. ... Morcilla is Spanish for blood sausage, and is prepared for the matanza in Spain and the asado in South America. ... Chitterlings (pronounced CHIT-lins and sometimes spelled chitlins) are the small intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food. ... Sweetbread is the name of a dish made of the thymus or pancreas of a young animal. ... In Spain, a brasero is a heater (currently electric, but coal fired historically) placed under a table covered with a cloth that extends to the floor to provide heat for people sitting at the table. ... Chivito (the diminutive of chivo or goat) is eaten in Argentina, sometimes as part of an asado. ...

An asado can be made al asador, or a la parrilla. In the first case a fire is made on the ground or in a fire pit and is surrounded by metal crosses (asadores) which hold the entire carcass of an animal splayed open to receive the heat from the fire. In the second case, a fire is made and after the coals have formed, a grill (parrilla) is placed over with the meat to be cooked. A propane gas grill with a custom-built aluminium stand partly submerged in snow in Akureyri, Iceland. ...

The meat for an asado is not marinated, the only preparation being the application of salt before and/or during the cooking period. Also, the heat and distance from the coals are controlled to provide a slow cooking; it usually takes around 2 hours to cook an asado. Further, grease from the meat is not encouraged to fall on the coals and create smoke which would adversely flavor the meat, indeed in some asados the area directly under the meat is kept clear of coals.

The asado is usually placed in a tray to be immediately served, but it can also be placed on a brasero right on the table to keep the meat warm. Chimichurri, a sauce of garlic, parsley, lemon, oil and sometimes vinegar is the common accompaniment to an asado. In Spain, a brasero is a heater (currently electric, but coal fired historically) placed under a table covered with a cloth that extends to the floor to provide heat for people sitting at the table. ... Chimichurri is a sauce and marinade used with grilled meat in Nicaraguan and Argentine cuisine. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. ... Species Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a bright green, biennial herb that is very common in Middle Eastern, European, and American cooking. ... Binomial name Citrus × limon (L.) Burm. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Vinegar is often infused with spices or herbs—as here, with oregano. ...

In Brazil, the Asado is called Churrasco, and although the method of cooking is similar, charcoal is predominantly used instead of embers of wood, and Brazilians tend to cook the meat on skewers, in some places, the meat is condimentated with salt and a bit of sugar. Churrasco is Spanish and Portuguese term referring to beef or grilled meat more generally, differing across Latin America but a primary dish in the countries of Argentina, Brazil and Nicaragua. ...

External link

• Sample recipe from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Dinner at La Porteña, near Bs. As.
• Asado Argentina
• The Carnivorous Country
• Café Columbus This article is half in Spanish, half in English.