A Year in Uruguay

One thing I missed when I lived in Montevideo was the complex flavor of craft beers. I didn't have any complaints about Pilsen or Patricia but there wasn't much variety. After I returned to the US, a new microbrewery opened in Montevideo and when I visited this August I was able to taste their product.

Cervecería Artesanal del Uruguay brands its beer Mastra and they brew three varieties: dorada [gold], roja [red], and negra [black]. I enjoyed them. The negra is a thick, hearty traditional stout, as opposed to a dark-colored but relatively light-tasting beer like Pilsen Stout. The roja has a great malty taste; I could see it becoming my favorite. (I didn't have time to try the dorada.)

Is Uruguay ready for craft beers? No problem on the supply side-- these are high quality microbrews. On the demand side, it's questionable. Beer is certainly part of Uruguay's culture and I'm sure there are enough beer-drinkers with adventuresome tastes who would drink strongly flavored cervezas. The problem is the price. A small single-serving bottle (12 oz/355 ml) costs more than a liter of Patricia, which is going to make it hard to survive in the marketplace. It's tough to launch a super-premium product in an economically-stressed market. That said, Argentina has several microbreweries so it's possible this one could succeed in Uruguay by tapping into the tourist trade. I wish them luck.

Suerte.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Tony Bourdain's show on Uruguay aired this week. Here's a Travel Channel video showing him eat carne with his brother in the Mercado del Puerto.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay, video

In an earlier post, I mentioned chef Anthony Bourdain's visit to Uruguay. Since then, I've heard a few bits and pieces about his trip, including a mishap with an armadillo that I don't fully understand. (I guess I'll need to wait and watch the show.)

In my post I included quotes from Bourdain that had been translated twice (into Spanish by Busqueda and back into English by me) losing, no doubt, accuracy each time. To make up for that, here's a quote from a Miami Herald article about Bourdain:

``I was just in Uruguay. It was one of those great discoveries. Montevideo is outrageously cool. I ate meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't think I saw a single vegetable for 10 days. Everything is cooked over roaring heaps of wood. They are burning down the whole world to feed themselves. I had armadillo. Hadn't had that yet. And some emu/ostrich varietal. But the big surprise was how good the blood sausage was. Maybe the best morcilla I ever had.''

But how good was the steak?

``It was better than I had in Argentina. People say the beef in Argentina is great. I prefer American beef to Argentine beef. But everything I had in Uruguay was unexpectedly great.''

And here's a direct quote from Tony Bourdain's blog without any intermediation:

URUGUAY: The Bourdain brothers journey to Montevideo, Punta del Este and the surrounding countryside in search of traces of their mysterious, Uruguayan great, great grandfather. Conclusions? Among other things--that Uruguay makes Argentina look like a vegan suburb of Berkeley. That they like to cook stuff over flame. LOTS of flame. That Montevideo is probably the Next Big Thing--or should be. And that the "civito" is the Greatest Sandwich in the History of Civilization.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Anthony Bourdain, chef, author, and TV star was in Uruguay a few weeks ago to film a segment of his Travel Channel program, "No Reservations". He visited an estancia with friends of mine where they shot a scene for the show. My friends and one of the show's producers emailed me & said it was a great day.

Another friend sent me a couple of interesting Bourdain quotes from the "Galería" magazine of Monetvideo's news weekly,"Busqueda".

I've translated his comments on food in Uruguay as best I could. The English to Spanish to English translation undoubtedly is a weak reflection of his original statements, but I hope you'll get the idea. I've included the Spanish version, below.











Anthony Bourdain: “The first thing I need to talk about is the chivito, because it’s the best sandwich I’ve tasted in my life, including the venerated & thousand times described pastrami sandwich of New York and the mortadella and cheese sandwich from the market of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Really, the chivito is too good to be true; it’s almost impossible to eat because of how tall it is. Moreover, the idea of putting together beef, bacon, ham and cheese in the same bite, without counting all the other things it contains, is incredible. What’s more, in the US you could be arrested for daring to eat something like this. For me, any country that embraces this as its national sandwich is great!"


“De lo primero que tengo que hablar es del chivito, porque es el mejor sandwich que probé en mi vida, incluso es mejor que mi venerado y mil veces descripto sandwich de pastrani de Nueva York, y que el de mortadela y queso del mercado de San Pablo, Brasil. De verdad, el chivito es demasiado bueno para ser cierto, es casi imposible de comer de lo alto que es. Además la idea de juntar carne, panceta, jamón y queso en un mismo bocado, sin contar con todo lo demás que puede contener, es increible. Es más, en Estados Unidos serías arrestado por solo osar comer una cosa como ésta. Para mi cualquier país que abrace a este sandwich como nacional, es genial!"




He continues, “Today at noon we went to the Mercado del Puerto. I swear that in this city I ate more meat than I’ve ever eaten in my life. In the parrillada they served us an enormous brazier with five pounds of meat—with sausages, blood sausage, sweetbreads, lamb, asado—and didn’t stop until I finished it all. In Uruguay, they have the best blood sausage, better than the French and whatever other I have tasted, particularly the sweet. I tip my hat to societies like yours that don’t pay attention to cholesterol and the crazy idea of healthy eating. Even more, when I don’t see anywhere the @#$% fast food chains like Burger King, Starbucks, Chicken McNuggets, or Wendy’s. All that I see speaks well of the country. I like countries that aren’t in love with American fast food."

Y continúa: "Hoy al mediodía fuimos al Mercado del Puerto. Juro que en esta ciudad comí más carne de la que he comido en mi vida. En la parrillada nos sirvieron un brasero enorme como dos quilos de carne -con chorizos, morcillas, mollejas, cordero, asado- y no paré hasta que acabé con todo. En Uruguay también tienen la mejor morcilla, mejor que la francesa y que cualquiera que haya probado, sobre todo la dulce. Me saco el sombrero ante las sociedades como la suya, que no prestan atención al colesterol y a la loca idea de comer sano. Más aún, cuando no veo por ningún lado las malditas cadenas de comida rápida tipo Burger King, Starbucks, Chicken McNuggetsd o Wendy's. Todo lo que veo habla bien del país. Me gustan los paises que no aman al fast food estadounidense."

The Uruguay episode of "No Reservations" is scheduled to air sometime this summer or fall (Northern hemisphere seasons). I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

In Montevideo, it's never a long walk to a bakery. Some specialize in breads (panaderías) and others in pastries (confiterías). Las Gaviotas was our favorite bakery for masas finas [pastries]. They also made great cakes and apple strudel and it was the only place in Montevideo where we saw challah bread. Located on Avenida Brasil, two blocks up from the Rambla.


Las Gaviotas website

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

La Otra was our favorite parrilla. Nothing fancy: whitewashed walls, waiters in black T-shirts, paper placemats on simple wood tables. The focus was all on the carne, which led to my daughter's complaint, "all they serve is meat." Which was pretty much true: no pasta, no sandwiches, no dessert, no coffee.

There were about 8 different cuts of beef, 3 kinds of sausage, and a few other parts from the cow. If you couldn't grill it, they didn't serve it. Vegetables were also cooked on the embers: morrones [red bell pepper], boniatas [sweet potato], and papas al plomo [potatoes baked in foil].

Located on the corner of Tomás Diego and Perez, La Otra was very much our neighborhood parrilla and we ate there frequently. A friend of ours was an even more loyal customer-- he had eaten there every day during an earlier month-long stay in Montevideo. La Otra wasn't always perfect-- they could have "off" days. (El Palenque in the Mercado del Puerto, for example, was more consistent in terms of meat quality.) But, the imperfections were infrequent and on a typical night the food was unbeatable.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

While I've posted frequently on food in Uruguay, I've neglected some of our favorite places to eat. Pizzeria Trouville was the first restaurant we ate at in Montevideo. It's located in Pocitos on 21 de Setiembre at Francisco Vidal. The atmosphere is nothing special, particularly inside under the harsh florescent lights, but the pizza is great and the servers are friendly and prices are very reasonable. I'd usually order a pizzetta con panceta [bacon pizza] with a chopp of beer. My wife preferred her pizza with morrones [red bell peppers], which was good, too. My daughter often had a sandwich caliente[grilled cheese and ham] or a pancho[hot dog]. I think we ate there more often than at any other restaurant in Monetvideo.

Back in Michigan, the pizza isn't shockingly different but the prices can be. My wife who had become accustomed to paying about 80 cents for her glass of vino blanco was startled to see her white wine in Kalamazoo cost six dollars (which was more than her entire meal at Pizzeria Trouville.)

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

In Spanish, carne means meat and, in Uruguay, meat means beef. We ate many great meals in Uruguay, particularly carne cooked on the parrilla. At restaurants and at friends' homes, the beef was invariably delicious but when we tried to cook beef ourselves, we had trouble. I'd buy some nice looking steaks at the supermarket and they'd be too tough to eat because, despite how good they looked, they were really stew meat.

Eventually, I learned the names of several common cuts of meat. For a good steak, entrecot was a reliable choice. Picaña was another good steak: more expensive and more tender. Other cuts like colita de cuadril and asado need slower cooking and some cuts, like matambre, need to be boiled until tender.

At lunch one day, I found I wasn't the only one confused by beef names. By chance, I was seated next to a table of tourists from Spain who asked the waiter, "What is the colita de cuadril". Even before he responded, I knew his answer would be, "Es un tipo de carne." ["It's a type of meat."]

Here are some online resources that can help. Asado Argentina has a good post on Cuts of Beef for the Parrilla and the Cooking Diva includes photos and a video from her visit to a butcher shop in Buenos Aires. For excruciating detail, compare the Uruguay National Meat Institute's Meat Handbook (in English) to their Spanish version,Catálogo de Cortes.

update: Frigorifico Tacuarembó has a much easier to use illustration showing beef cuts in Spanish and English

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Asado is Uruguay's most typical food from the parrilla. Ribs are cut crossways to make a steak-like piece of beef with little nubbins of bone. Asado is more flavorful but less tender than steak. It's generally one of the cheaper beef cuts on a menu. I like it a lot but some people find it too fatty.

Asado is also the general name for barbecue, so if a Uruguayan invites you to an asado you can expect to spend several hours enjoying various cuts of grilled meat.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Last January, during the South American summer, a friend made canoas for us on his parrilla in Marindia. Yesterday, I made them in Kalamazoo on a Weber grill during our North American summer. They're very simple, morrones [red bell peppers] filled with provolone cheese cooked on the grill until the pepper is soft and the cheese is melted. They're delicious.

Garnished with onions, green olives, tomatoes, and basil they become provolone de la casa as served at La Otra.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Alfajores are a very popular snack in Montevideo. Basically they are a layer of dulce de leche sandwiched between two cookies and then covered with either chocolate, merengue, or grated coconut. A friend swears by the bakery version but my daughter is perfectly happy with the packaged ones from the supermarket. Another friend's daughter thinks importing alfajores to the United States would be a great business opportunity.

Here's a recipe for alfajores.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Mollejas, typically cooked on the parrilla, are popular in Montevideo. In English, they're called sweetbreads [the thymus gland]. I'd never had them before coming to Uruguay but I've eaten them several times in the last year. Unlike some organ meats, mollejas have a very mild flavor. They can be a little fatty, so they are frequently served with lemon.

Here's a recipe.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Empanadas are a popular snack throughout Latin America and different countries interpret the empanada in various ways. In Uruguay, the classic empanadas seem to be ham & cheese or carne (ground beef) but our local purveyor lists 23 different fillings from chicken curry to dulce de leche. The pastries are coded by punching holes in the dough so you can identify the filling before biting into it.

Thanks to the blog reader who recommended La Chacha (Marti 3379); it's become our regular source for empanadas.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Beef gets most of the attention in Uruguay, but the seafood is also good. Last night I had calamares en su tinta at the Club de Pesca. I'd eaten squid many times but never cooked in its ink. It was tasty. If you're interested, you might try this recipe.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

La Corte is a popular restaurant on the Peatonal Sarandí at Plaza Matriz. It came to my attention when President Bush ate there during his visit to Uruguay. In general, the kinds of restaurants where presidents eat are too luxurious for my budget, but I thought it would be interesting to see.













La Corte turned out to be very affordable; nearly all the main dishes cost less than 200 pesos ($8). Like many Montevideo restaurants they offer daily specials, a complete meal-- main dish, side, glass of wine, and dessert-- for about $6. The menu was very typically Uruguayan: meat from the parrilla, milanesas, pasta, simple salads, desserts made with dulce de leche, etc. It's very representative of the local cuisine.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay

Most of the countryside that I'd seen in Uruguay was cattle land, except for some vegetable farms and vineyards close to Montevideo, so I was somewhat surprised to see orange groves near Salto. Apparently the area is known for growing citrus, particularly oranges. The trees were full of healthy-looking fruit.

Labels: food and drink, interior, Salto, Uruguay

Wednesday morning at 4 am I left Montevideo in order to visit a frigorífico in Paso de los Toros. We arrived at the meat packing plant just after sunrise, around eight in the morning. We changed into white pants, white tunics, white rubber boots, and blue hardhats before entering the plant. In the entryway, everyone scrubbed their boots and washed their hands before going into the packing room.

The plant was much smaller than the typical Uruguayan frigorífico and it was designed for processing liebre (hare) and later expanded to sheep. The day we were there they were packing lamb for sale in Africa.

I'd never been to a slaughterhouse so I didn't know what to expect. The part of the plant we were in was like a big busy butchershop-- very clean, very bright-- meat being cut, packaged, vacuum sealed, and boxed

See a short video:

Labels: food and drink, interior, rural, Tacuarembó, Uruguay, video

I posted about churros during Uruguay's summer. They make an even better snack for a cool fall afternoon.












Here's a short video showing churros being made:

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay, video

Once a year at the Estancia Los Morteros they make their own chorizo. Usually it's a mid-Winter activity (June or July) but the pigs had been troublesome this year so they decided to move the process to the weekend we visited. It was interesting to see and a good reminder that meat doesn't ultimately come from the supermarket.

None of the pig was wasted; most of it became chorizo, but the legs were salted to make ham and we ate delicious spareribs for dinner. A couple of big pots simmered on the fire for head cheese. The skins cured on the shed roof and the dogs ate the scraps. The chorizo, cooked slowly over embers, was great.


If you don't follow the dictum, "people who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either being made," you may like this video:

Labels: food and drink, interior, Lavalleja, rural, seasons, Uruguay, video

Another dark beer has appeared in Montevideo's grocery stores: Pilsen Stout. Today was the first day I'd seen it. It's good. It tastes more like the Patricia Salus Porter, released earlier this autumn, than, say, Guinness Stout. Like the Patricia Porter, it's a limited edition.

The De todo un poco blog says Pilsen Stout had been available for a short time last year in Uruguay.

Labels: food and drink, Uruguay