Latin Grilling: Recipes to Share, from Patagonian Asado to Yucatecan Barbecue and More

350 Pages·2011·7.11 MB·English

by  Lourdes Castro

Copyright © 2011 by Lourdes Castro
Photographs copyright © 2011 by Tara Donne All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered
trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Castro, Lourdes, 1971 Dec. 9–
Latin grilling : recipes to share, from Argentine asado to Yucatecan
barbecue and more / Lourdes Castro.
p. cm.
Includes index.
Summary: “Respected Latin chef and cooking teacher Lourdes Castro takes readers on a culinary tour of the Americas,
firing up 90 recipes arranged into ten grilling fiestas that feature authentic Latin American flavors, all tailored for the
home cook or backyard griller.” —Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-60774-004-9 (pbk.)
1. Barbecuing—Latin America. 2. Cooking, Latin American. 3. Cookbooks.
I. Title.
TX840.B3C45 2011
641.598—dc22
2010048745
eISBN: 978-1-60774067-4
Food styling by Lourdes Castro
Prop styling by Martha Bernabe First Edition
v3.1
To Gerard and his appetite

CONTENTS
Introduction
Guide to Grilling
Mexican Frontera Cookout
Yucatecan Barbecue
Nicaraguan Ranch Roast
Cuban Cookout
Northern Andean Barbecue
The Peruvian Grill
Patagonian Asado
The Argentine Grill
Chilean Seafood Cookout
Brazilian Rodizio
Acknowledgments
Index
INTRODUCTION
I’m a true Latin girl. I love to cook. I love to feed family and friends. And
I love to spend hours lingering over a table with them while enjoying
fabulous drinks and delicious food. My menus need to be diverse, the
food abundant, and the flavors bright and vibrant. Oh, and one more
thing: I want to feel as if I’m a guest at my own party.
That last part is a bit tricky, but after many years of trial and error I
have figured out a way to make lots of delicious food and not feel as if
I’m running a restaurant out of my house. More on that technique later
—first let’s talk about the food and the grill.
I love the taste of food that has been cooked with fire. The intense
heat of the flames chars the food, deepening its flavor and enhancing its
texture. Equally, I love how grilling draws a crowd and excites your
guests. It must be the primal, communal aspect of cooking over flames
that brings people together.
When I was growing up in Miami, I spent many weekends with my
family grilling in our backyard. In line with our background, the foods
and flavors were traditionally Cuban, while the grilling style and
equipment varied according to the mood of the “grill master.” I recall
seeing everything from large sophisticated gas grills to small charcoal
kettle ones. However, it wasn’t all so arbitrary. Certain holidays, like
Christmas Eve, called for the specific and ceremonial method of cooking
a whole pig low and slow with charcoal. And on school nights the gas
grill was used for a quick flip of fresh fish over intense flames.
Regardless of what was grilled or how it was made, the meal always
seemed special.
As I got older and began traveling through Latin America, I saw
firsthand how common cooking over fire, or grilling, was. I recall a visit
to Argentina where I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s home
in the outskirts of Buenos Aires for a true, day-long Argentine asado
(cookout). I’ve also experienced the freshest grilled fish prepared on a
small charcoal kettle right on a beach in Ecuador, and had the best char-
grilled pork tacos served out of a parked truck in Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico. Each experience was different in its food and flavor, but the
communal aspect was the same.
This brings me to an important note. Despite common threads, like
grilling, all Latin food is not created equal. Latin America is a huge
region made up of many countries, each with its own culinary history
and characteristic flavors. Unfortunately, Latin fare tends to get muddled
into one underwhelming cuisine. Just ask a Peruvian what he had for
dinner and I guarantee you his answer will be very different than a
Brazilian’s. Yes, similarities do exist, but it’s their differences—like the
prominent use of cumin in one country and the focus on fiery chiles in
another—that make the cuisines and their flavors so enticing.
In order to bring focus to the diversity and uniqueness of the cuisines
of Latin America, I have organized this book by region, creating menus
that provide a taste of some of the most popular foods of several
countries. At the start of each chapter, I will set you up with quick
pointers on what makes up the spirit of each cuisine and acquaint you
with some of its key ingredients. My hope is that this will help you make
out the subtle differences between the foods of Chile and Argentina, as
well as the marked differences between those of Mexico and Brazil.
This book not only offers both grilling tips and lessons on Latin
flavors, it also instructs you on how to pull off a full menu, from drinks
to dessert, and still find time to enjoy yourself. To guarantee that you
will be a guest at your own party, I’ve created a detailed “Game Plan”
for each menu that outlines, step by step, what needs to be done in order
to execute the menu successfully. You will see a chronological list of
tasks as well as instructions on storage. Because, let’s face it: most of us
do not have a walk-in refrigerator where we can store trays of food!
One last thing: feel free to mix and match. Cook through the book,
pick your favorites, and create your own menu. The only thing that
matters is that the food is delicious and you are having a good time!
GUIDE TO GRILLING
Cooking with fire requires instinct. Understanding how to adjust the grill
temperature and figuring out the precise time to remove meat from the
grill will determine whether a steak turns out beautifully charred and
succulent or dried and burnt. I’m not going to gloss over the fact that it
takes trial and error to truly internalize many of the nuances involved
with grilling. But ultimately, its not rocket science and once you’re past
the initial learning curve you’ll find that much of the process becomes
second nature. To get you started (or give you a refresher) I here are my
top ten tips to get you successfully cooking over live fire in no time.
Now, let’s get grilling!