Steaks from Argentina

Argentina has the world's highest consumption rate of beef, at 68 kg a year per capita. In 2006, livestock farmers kept between 50 and 55 million head of cattle, mostly in the fertile pastures of the Pampas. The country is currently the third largest beef exporter in the world after Brazil and Australia. The national government applies a 15% tax on beef exports and has applied further restrictions since March 2006 to keep domestic prices low.

Argentine beef and its production have played a major part in the Culture of Argentina, from the asado to the history of the gauchos of the Pampas. Landowners became wealthy from beef production and export, and estancia owners built large houses, important buildings in Buenos Aires and elsewhere, and contributed to politics, philanthropy and society. The agricultural show La Rural each winter in Buenos Aires became a major part of the social season since it started in 1886.

1. Ojo De Bife - Rib Eye

2. Bife De Chorizo - Sirloin Strip Steak

3. Bife de Lomo - Tenderloin

4. Skirt Steak - Entraña

Grab yourself a chunk of bife ancho. Have it? Good. Now slice off the spinalis dorsi, longissimus costarum, and multifidus dorsi. Please be careful with the spinalis dorsi, that’s special. Ask any beef aficionado and they’ll tell you that it is one of “the” most tender muscles off of our beloved beef providers. Now, if you did everything right, you should have on your cutting board a nice slab of ojo de bife, the Longissimus dorsi muscle.

If it were not for travel guides, acquaintances, or menu translations, I wonder how many first time visitors to Argentina would bypass bife de chorizo thinking it to be some sort of Argentinean sausage version of the hamburger steak. Instead, moving on to other unfamiliar names that for some reason scream beef of which Argentina is famous for and what these visitors want to devour. However, that is not the case and this juicy steak is probably one of the most popular requested parrilla items by visitors and locals alike off of many menus throughout Argentina.

So where did the chorizo part come from? Well, one story offers that the whole cut–where the steaks come from– resembles a chorizo due to its somewhat cylindrical round shape. Any truth to that? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Like lomo(tenderloin) and ojo de bife/bife ancho (rib-eye cuts), bife de chorizo is one of the cuts of meat that is similarly cut the same elsewhere around the world as in Argentina. It is the same cut as what you may know as top loin, sirloin steak, strip steak, N.Y. strip, and a few others that I can’t think of off the top of my head. The steak of steaks. They are just meant for the grill. Rich, meaty, juicy, and you need a steak knife to cut through it. Because of all this, bife de chorizo acts as a great litmus test for those who care to sample and compare Argentinean beef to the beef they consume in their own locale.

One of the most prized and expensive cuts of meat on the market is the tenderloin. In Argentina, the tenderloin is known as lomo. Pork tenderloin is called lomo de cerdo but for beef it is simply lomo; beef country remember. Tenderloin is a long tube-shaped cut of meat that runs along the spinal section. This muscle section of the cow does not get much of a workout , therefore the meat is extremely tender. Cook it right and you will be rewarded with a meat so succulent and tender you will feel like it is melting in your mouth.

Around the world, well where beef is popular, you often see tenderloin treated with luxury. Sliced medallions, also known as filet mignon, topped with creamy rich sauces. For true meat lovers, perhaps they are just wrapped in bacon on laid on a hot grill. In Argentina, it is not uncommon to see lomo treated in the same manor except at some asados you may see a whole slab of lomo cooked on a grill.

Now let’s get back to the topic of cooking lomo on a parrilla. Lomo is grilled either whole, sliced, or cubed. The latter is typically only for use on skewers, known as brochette de lomo and I’ll cover that later. No matter how the meat will be cooked, the outer part should be well trimmed of any fat and muscle membranes. Lomo is a very lean cut of meat and therefore will end up dry, tough, and chewy if cooked for too long. Therefore, you should not cook lomo past a medium. This is my personal opinion but if you are going to cook for a crowd who wants their meat cooked medium well to well done, use another meat. Tenderloin is just too expensive and too good to waste for that sort of nonsense. Would you buy a $100 bottle of wine just to guzzle it down like water?

One of the least expensive cuts of meat used in an asado, entraña is what many know as the skirt steak. The cuts are exactly the same. The meat is rich in flavor and extremely juicy, but can be at times be rather chewy and tough. If you are familiar with skirt steak then you will know that it usually comes with a slightly thick layer of fat and muscle membrane; similar to what coats the cuts of vacio.

Although trimming the surrounding membrane will make the meat easier on the teeth, it is typically left on. Leaving it on will help to keep the juices inside with a tasty crispy exterior.

Beef quality is dependent on the diet provided to cattle and their living conditions. The two different diets used for beef in Argentina are grass and feedlots.

Argentina's rainfall and largely temperate climate result in high quality pastures, which may, however, not be suitable for more intensive agriculture. The Humid Pampa (Pampa Húmeda) is the most important and best-known cattle-producing region, as it has vast and open pastures. Grass-fed beef is believed to be healthier than beef from feedlots, as it contains less saturated fat and more omega 3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef, and so does not contribute so much to raising cholesterol in humans. Although the latter diet is increasing, grass-fed beef is still the most popular in Argentina.

Grass-fed cattle are living under more natural conditions, and are less likely to have hormone implants. On the other hand, the technique requires large amounts of expensive land and a larger number of trained staff. Additionally, it takes longer to raise the animal.

As beef is increasingly mass-produced, farming techniques with the ultimate goal of fattening the animals are evolving; the most common of these is grain-fed beef cattle held in feedlots. But as the animals, denied physical effort and stocked together, get fatter; beer is often used to calm them. In order to prevent disease on farms and feedlots, the animals are fed antibiotics. The feedlot diet guarantees constant and controlled results, year-round productivity as it is not as dependent on climate and does not require so much land. Taking into consideration all these factors, it is thus the cheaper diet, but there are suggestions it is less beneficial for the welfare of the animals and for the health-giving qualities and flavour of the meat.