Argentinean

Thick, herby chimichurri is a great sauce to add to your cooking repertoire. Serve it with grilled meats or sausages, toss it with roasted potatoes, brush it on bread before grilling, or pair it with fried eggs.

Here, the sunny warmth of mint escapes the sweet-jelly cliché to find new expression in the thick Argentinean herb sauce called chimichurri. Its bright acidity cuts the lush richness of lamb shoulder chops.

According to legend, a great chef in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Antonio Carbonada, had an Argentine lady as a regular customer. One day she asked for her favorite sandwich made with goat (chivito in Spanish). There was no goat to be had, so the chef threw together what was on hand—steak, ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise—and the chivito was born. It is now found everywhere in Uruguay. As with most traditional comfort food, everybody makes their chivito just a little differently. Here's mine.

This fresh salsa was dreamed up when we were testing our Salt-Crust Chicken . It's also wonderful with fresh cod, corvina, branzino, and striped bass. It was invented by Lucía Soria, who, while still in her twenties, went from being a cook in my restaurant in Buenos Aires to the manager of Hotel Restaurant Garzon in Uruguay and my second-in-command at important events such as the inaugural dinner for Argentina's president.

Food critics often say that the measure of a great restaurant is its roast chicken. This technique is much more forgiving than regular oven-roasting chicken, although it doesn't have a crunchy crust. I believe that achieving moist white meat is even more important than the crust.

Whether used as a marinade or as a sauce, a versatile chimichurri complements most any grilled fish, chicken, or meat.

The exquisitely fragrant beefy filling in our take on these classic Central and South American pastries draws on a number of influences—Chilean, Puerto Rican, and Argentinean. Traditionally eaten as street food, empanadas are ideal for snacking on the go but are just as satisfying to sit down to for a simple dinner.

This simple salad is designed to highlight the delightful spotted cargamanto beans. You can use either the red or white variety; both lose their mottled colors when cooked. Because these beans are so meaty, we use a dressing inspired by chimichurri, the Argentinean sauce for grilled meats.

These delicious ravioli come from the hot Buenos Aires restaurant Social Paraiso. Freezing the Brie for 20 minutes will make trimming the rind easier.

A classic Christmas bread from one of Buenos Aires's most famous bakeries, Las Violetas.

This recipe is adapted from Argentine chef Francis Mallman. Mallman also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. This savory first course is Mallman's version of a traditional recipe from the painted-desert Argentine province of Salta. With their corn-husk wrapping humitas are somewhat similar to the spongier Central American tamal. This is one of the rare but significant Argentine dishes that reflects South America's Incan heritage. For the most part, Indian influences are muted in Argentine cooking, except for the country's enduring passion for grilling over an open fire. But Mallman is enraptured by the traditions of the Incas, with their mud ovens and, as he puts it, "the worship of peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, and tomatoes ... all that magic and mystery."

_Biftek à la Parrilla This recipe is excerpted from Shirley Lomax Brooks's book Argentina Cooks! We've also added some tips of our own below. This recipe uses only two ingredients for the marinade, yet the results belie the simplicity. Of course, steak is at its best when it is well marbled. Cuts such as beef filet, New York steak, porterhouse, or T-bone are recommended. _

Empanadas de Bariloche This recipe is excerpted from Shirley Lomax Brooks's book Argentina Cooks! We've also added some tips of our own below. To read more about Argentine cuisine, click here. High in the Andes, near the border with Chile, is the all-season splendor of San Carlos de Bariloche. At Christmastime it's a fairyland of cobalt lakes, forested islands, and manicured parklands surrounded by snow-capped alpine peaks. In the center of a small peninsula stands the rustic but elegant Llao Llao Hotel, a holiday mecca for the elite of Buenos Aires, Santiago, and even Paris, Düsseldorf, London, Madrid and Milan. When not attending the hotel's casino (closed as of this writing), guests spend their time dining in exquisite surroundings on international cuisine as well as impeccably fresh seafood from the Pacific coast of Chile. Hence, recipes such as Empanadas de Bariloche frequently straddle the border.

This recipe is adapted from Argentine chef Francis Mallman. Mallman also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. Dulce de leche, a dense, creamy caramelized milk "jam," is Argentina's favorite homegrown postre (dessert). As an accompaniment to a simple peeled banana, it is Argentine childhood incarnate, and its appearance at the table is sure to trigger Proustian flights of memory and rapture in adults. Flan de dulce de leche is a classic recipe that tends to be permanently bookmarked in kitchen-scarred copies of El Libro de Doña Petrona, the scriptural cookbook that is Argentina's equivalent of Fannie Farmer. Richer than any flan you've ever had, here it is, as interpreted by Francis Mallman.

This recipe is adapted from Argentine chef Francis Mallman. Mallman also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. There's little Argentines love more than a good milanesa — that irresistible combination of pounded-out beefsteak (or sometimes chicken) breaded, sautéed, and served up with a lemon wedge. As the name implies, the milanesa originally hails from Milan, where it's known as cottolette alla milanese, and is perhaps the city's most familiar — and exported — dish. Among its many far-flung cousins are Wiener Schnitzel and chicken-fried steak. In Argentina, arriving Italians adapted their beloved recipe to the country's endless supply of beef. Ever the mischievous traditionalist, Francis Mallman returns milanesa to its source. "If I were to serve this in Buenos Aires," Mallman admits, "people might say, 'What is this?' It's a milanesa from Milan, that's really what it is."

Chimichurri This recipe is excerpted from Shirley Lomax Brooks's book Argentina Cooks! We've also added some tips of our own below. Chimichurri is an absolute requirement for the famous Argentine asado or barbecue. The recipe for chimichurri that follows is only one of many, but it is typical of those you will find in the Pampas. Some locals use it as a salad dressing as well. And don't limit your chimichurri to asado; serve it with any broiled or roasted meat or poultry.

This is the national condiment of both Argentina and Uruguay, and there are hundreds of versions. The sauce is also great with vegetables, especially grilled or fried tomatoes.

In true Argentine and Uruguayan fashion, the steak is simply seasoned with salt and pepper, so the quality of the ingredients is particularly important. This is a well-marbled cut, which makes for a juicy and full-flavored grilled steak.

Grilling sweetbreads gives them a crispy crust that contrasts beautifully with their creamy, tender interior. In Argentina, sweetbreads are usually grilled whole, but we find people are less intimidated by them when they're prepared this way — separated into pieces. As with all offal, be sure the sweetbreads are very fresh.

This lively salsa is typically served with Argentine asado—beef, pork, or lamb cooked over an open fire or grill. It's also wonderful with a seared skirt steak.