That is something! Some here may have heard of a cut called a bavette, that would be that muscle above the skirt section in the video (near the end). Did a little digging on the webs and this cut is popular in Argentina because it is so cheap. Their economy is an inflationary mess, but a rough calculation shows this to be priced somewhere near $2 per pound. If you've shopped for flank, skirt, or bavette you're probably more accustomed to a range of $15-20 per pound in the US.
For those who benefit from a visual, here's where the vacio comes from on the beef side:
Retired, living in Western Mass. Enjoy music, cooking and my family.
Current cookers Weber Spirit 3 burner with a full insert griddle added. A 22" Kettle with vortex SnS and OnlyFire pizza oven. A Smokey Joe and the most recent addition a Pit Barrel Jr with bird hanger, 4 hooks and cover. ThermoWorks Smoke 2 probe, DOT, ThermoPops and a Thermapen MK4. 3 TempSpike wireless meat thermometers.
Al also appeared on episode one of Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue earlier this year. It's the episode with his flank steak pizza (that I still need to do!).
When this episode came out I watched it several times and then went out and bought some hooks because I realized I could not only use my SM grate but at the same time hang other foods to cook above it. Works well.
Tried the meat pizza too which was good, but in the end we both agreed that we like regular pizza better and we can save the flank steak for another meal.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I don't get it. Loved the grill but don't we usually cook the skirt, flank etc to medium rare?
From Mark Schatzker’s book Steak:
The tira de asado arrived Maillard-brown and crossed with black. The meat was gray through and through, which was not surprising. As much as Argentines revere steak, they buck the near-worldwide conviction among steak-loving peoples that steak should be served pink or red in the center. Argentines prefer their steak well done. (I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it, either.) While there is a loyal contingent that prefers it jugoso (juicy), they are in the minority.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
We have in-laws in Chile, and they call a cookout an asado. Parillas are as common in South America as gas grills are in the USA; if you have a back yard, you have a parilla. EVERY outdoor meal starts with sausages. EVERY meal has peppers. You like steak? Figure TWO steaks per person. They do ribs and butts, but more common is that whole pig that you see in the video, leaning up over the fire.
Argentines eat, on average, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS of beef per year. That’s 3 pounds a week! Man woman and child, young and old, country folk and city dwellers, rich and poor… damn. And like with the sweetbreads in the video, they eat the whole animal. Nothing goes to waste.
I use to visit Argentina quite a bit and boy can they put away the meat. I remember being taken out to eat to a sidewalk cafe once and my hosts all order basically the lunch special so I did too. When it arrived it was a multilevel platter of meats. They all cleaned their plates but I had a hard time getting through half of mine.
Comment