Asado at the hostel in El Bolson
We arrived in El Bolson, "the purse" in Spanish because it in a long narrow valley between two mountain ranges, and found a friendy hostel, Refugio Patagonico, in a good location and with a great view. By now we are really sold on hostels in this part of the country. They are inexpensive, have a convivial atmosphere, and there is lots of good current information offered by staff and other travelers.
It is still low season, so the staff decided to try out putting on an asado (traditional Argentine bbq) for the 7 guests for just 15 pesos each if we brought our own wine. We got to watch Niko prepare the meat - about 5 different LARGE cuts of beef rubbed with rock salt- and Julio prepare the fire. Julio build a hot oak fire in the large fireplace in the dining area, and as the wood turned to coals scraped them sideways underneath the heavy grill about 8 or 10 inches above the coals. The coal arrangement was carefully matched to the thickness of the cut of meat above, the type of cut, and when in the meal that cut was going to be eaten.
The idea of this meal is to eat a series different cuts of beef in a particular order that accentuates the flavor of each cut buiding up to the cuts with the most distinctive and best flavor. These are the most prized, not necessisarily the most tender. Our asado began with a grilled spicy sausage, Chorizo (non beef I think) which is common, kind of an appetizer. But it did not include any organ meets; a full asado often features grilled sweetbreads, kidney and intestine. The idea is to pace one´s self over a couple of hours of eating and drinking red wine so you don´t get full until the final round of meet. I think there were a few vegetables and/or a little salad, but I´m not actually sure. This is strictly an event for carnivores.
CT peaked a little to early in the meal, and was only able to taste the last couple of rounds. But I soldiered on manfully through full portions of each course. It was a fine meal, with great company. Others at the table included Phil a free lance technical writer from Friday Harbor, Celine from France who crews on private yachts in the Maldives, Carlos and Arienna from Columbia who are siblings and both computer engineers, and one other very friendly guy from Peru whose english was even less than out Spanish so we didnt get many more details about him.
The dinner got off to an early start for Argentina, about 9:30pm, and wound down sometime after midnight. We were stuffed, and I for one had had plenty of Malbec. But then as we finished, the staff announced that we were heading down the road a few blocks to the brew pub. El Bolson is famous for it's beer and has many local artisanal breweries, in part because all the hops in Argentina are grown in the valley. The deal was, that if we all went to the pub, then both the staff guys could go too, and they could just lock the place up. If anyone wanted to stay at the hostel, then one of them would stay too. So off we went into the beautiful night to pub Otto Tipp where we started by tasting samples of their 4 brews. I chose a pint of a really nice ale, and CT a glass of something lighter. By the time we finished those, for me the place could have been named Aught to Trip, but we made it back to hostel just fine relying on CT's sense of direction. We got in about 2:30, and at breakfast the next morning learned that some had stayed till 6am..... Ah, youth. SC
It is still low season, so the staff decided to try out putting on an asado (traditional Argentine bbq) for the 7 guests for just 15 pesos each if we brought our own wine. We got to watch Niko prepare the meat - about 5 different LARGE cuts of beef rubbed with rock salt- and Julio prepare the fire. Julio build a hot oak fire in the large fireplace in the dining area, and as the wood turned to coals scraped them sideways underneath the heavy grill about 8 or 10 inches above the coals. The coal arrangement was carefully matched to the thickness of the cut of meat above, the type of cut, and when in the meal that cut was going to be eaten.
The idea of this meal is to eat a series different cuts of beef in a particular order that accentuates the flavor of each cut buiding up to the cuts with the most distinctive and best flavor. These are the most prized, not necessisarily the most tender. Our asado began with a grilled spicy sausage, Chorizo (non beef I think) which is common, kind of an appetizer. But it did not include any organ meets; a full asado often features grilled sweetbreads, kidney and intestine. The idea is to pace one´s self over a couple of hours of eating and drinking red wine so you don´t get full until the final round of meet. I think there were a few vegetables and/or a little salad, but I´m not actually sure. This is strictly an event for carnivores.
CT peaked a little to early in the meal, and was only able to taste the last couple of rounds. But I soldiered on manfully through full portions of each course. It was a fine meal, with great company. Others at the table included Phil a free lance technical writer from Friday Harbor, Celine from France who crews on private yachts in the Maldives, Carlos and Arienna from Columbia who are siblings and both computer engineers, and one other very friendly guy from Peru whose english was even less than out Spanish so we didnt get many more details about him.
The dinner got off to an early start for Argentina, about 9:30pm, and wound down sometime after midnight. We were stuffed, and I for one had had plenty of Malbec. But then as we finished, the staff announced that we were heading down the road a few blocks to the brew pub. El Bolson is famous for it's beer and has many local artisanal breweries, in part because all the hops in Argentina are grown in the valley. The deal was, that if we all went to the pub, then both the staff guys could go too, and they could just lock the place up. If anyone wanted to stay at the hostel, then one of them would stay too. So off we went into the beautiful night to pub Otto Tipp where we started by tasting samples of their 4 brews. I chose a pint of a really nice ale, and CT a glass of something lighter. By the time we finished those, for me the place could have been named Aught to Trip, but we made it back to hostel just fine relying on CT's sense of direction. We got in about 2:30, and at breakfast the next morning learned that some had stayed till 6am..... Ah, youth. SC
posted by Axolotl at 7:27 AM
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