Today has been a very interesting day— I’d like to start off by saying that I had to check some of my cultural appropriation, some of my cultural hang-Ups and just kind of give myself into Argentina a little. I don’t think that I was as open as I thought that I was, and on top of that, I don’t think that it was something that was easy for me to see. Because of my experience, the things I’ve done before, and just the person I am. This is all based to what I’m seeing in Argentina, or what I’m seeing in the rest of the world, things that I had seen a bit of Europe, and now I’m here in South America. I’m in a place that I’ve never been before. When you come from Jamaica, you see a lot of things that are very specific, but at the same time it’s the stuff that I grew up with. It’s like when you’re on an island, or Caribbean, you most likely eat fish, eat lots of fresh fruits most of our diet is consistent of fruit. It’s just not so much meat, so coming to Argentina and seeing the lack of fruits and seeing so much meat I wasn’t really thinking that I would be enjoying the meats as much as I am. Guess what? I am surely enjoying these meats, and this meat oh Buddy Boy, Buddy Boy, Buddy Boy they have been amazing!
I had the opportunity to get some traditional styles, I was invited to Asado with a friend or rather one of my co-workers had invited me to Asado. I accepted the offer but at the same time when I told them that I had never experienced this “Asado”, and I didn’t really know anything about it—the entire office time didn’t said: “no, no we are going to do Asado. All of them here in the office love it, so we decided to get the Asado together, which is really just going to the butcher shop, getting a bunch of meats. Side note: guess what I saw at the shop? Some seasoning that said something interesting, because you know it’s a corner of Argentina not the Caribbean. Argentina and look at you, the butcher shop got Jamaican seasoning. Well Pimento de Jamaica, which is really just allspice. This is what we do use by the way to make jerk chicken. If you wanted to make jerk chicken, and I made that a few times in Jamaica, you can get it here in Argentina. Back to the Asado, we got different cuts of meat. It was, I think, some sausage, the side of the cow (not where the ribs are like under the ribs or something like that) I can’t remember. We also got some beers at the store across the street, and we set off to make it. No seasoning in hand, while I had my salt and pepper and some curry in case i needd to spice it up some.
If you’re not familiar with Asado in Argentina, it’s a weekly sort of familial event where everyone gathers. We’ll see the men get together, and they will be doing most of the grill work. They have this grill contraction that they use to lower a grill, l or hover a grill over charcoal. The method of grilling is slightly different from what I’ve seen used. Grilling this way, they use the grill smartly, they create hot zones easier. The coals are sitting on a flat level platform and not heaped. You can lift the grill plate and rearrange the coals the way you want them. Based on what you’re doing, like say you’re grilling some cheese, or you have some cheese to the side. I can’t talk enough about that we need to start implementing that anywhere there’s a grill. You need to start implementing that because that is fabulous when you think about it in terms of concept, in terms of ease of use, in terms of just everything. This method 5/5, it gave everything right.
The star of the show was not the grill, the star of the show was the meat! The meat was amazing, you could see the love and care and attention these men were putting into grilling this meat. We stood around and drank lots of beer, watched the grill masters and exchanged funny storied. It was good for me to learn a little bit about Argentine culture, where we talked about how this was a Sunday activity. On Sundays, and on the weekends most families they would get together, the grandparents, the parents and not just the small, but the extended (the bigger larger family) would come together. They would eat, they would grill meat, grill buns, cheese and you just have a feast. It was wonderful hearing them tell their stories, and when you think about this one activity that kind of brings families together. It was just cool to be a part of it—even though it was an office event, it made me feel like I was a part of the family it was so cool. I really enjoyed all of it.
I had to take back all the shit I was talking. I talked a lot of mess before we got there when we were at the butcher shop about how I don’t think it’s going to taste good what seasonings they were going to have. Furthermore, I had bought some curry and bought some other little seasonings just in case the meat did not taste as good as described. I didn’t know what it was going to taste like because sometimes you can’t trust everyone’s taste to be close to your taste is. Sometimes you’re not sure if their palette is the same as what you were expecting or what you require. It was quite cool to see and to experience it for myself and be again pleasantly surprised. I ate all of my words and all the meats, it was a good time.
I went to Don Julio last night. Last night my coworker Glenda she had suggested that I try out Don Julio, it’s like a famous Steakhouse location or famous steakhouse chain. She told me I have to go get it because they have these amazing selection of wine. Here in the store, they have every Malbec you could think about, which they did. I saw Malbec from everywhere, they had wine from different regions, they had Malbec from Mendoza—well a lot from a lot of them. The even had some from Chile. It’s how they organized the wine selection for you, and they may not have a lot on the menu but if you speak a little bit of Spanish you can ask for suggestions. My wine was amazing, it was the wine that the waiter suggested. It was so good—he told me which was best for me because I told him I was going to get. He paired it with this cut of steak, I don’t think it was a filet Mignon. I can’t remember the exact order now, but it was amazing.
The restaurant itself was really wonderful cool place to see. The knives were engraved, the ambience, the wine was hitting, the waiters were giving all the right food suggestions. I really enjoyed it okay last night, so good. If I were you, I would definitely come to Don Julio, because I would, I have to put on the list of my suggested places to visit. Especially if you really experience want Argentine culture is it’s a steakhouse that gives you the cuts of meat that pairs of the wine for you, and it’s not high class dining, but it’s up there. This is a place of quality and good stuff, I loved it.
I’m probably going to go to bed now. I’m a little bit tired from the day it’s Friday and I kind of want to take a nap before I go out tonight. I just wanted to share what was going on and you guys know what’s up. So signing off, for the tall black nomad it’s Friday, and I’m about to get ready to go out, later guys!
-Tall Black Nomad