From Gauchos to National Icon: A History of the Great Argentinian Barbecue

The arrival of cattle during the Spanish conquest redefined the traditional landscape. Cattle were distributed across the wet pampas, over multiple pastures.

Long before the advent of modern grills, gauchos, the nomadic inhabitants of the Argentinian pampas, and adept horsemen, honed their skills rounding up wild cattle, slaughtering them, and roasting them on sticks in the ground. This was the earliest form of a ritual that combined Argentinian tradition and mythology.

Until the early 20th century, barbecues were cooked on a cross, stake, or spit, and the rack of meat was grilled whole.

The tradition of grilling the rack whole dates back to the Franciscans who settled in Córdoba. They treated the men working on their temples to a barbecue when they finished the project, initiating the direct link between grilled meat and construction workers. 

The tradition started to spread in the early 20th century, when barbecues arrived in the cities with the influx of an already dynamic food industry, including meat processing plants and cattle markets, and with the change in social habits.

Around 1950, grills were becoming a universal fixture in homes, and the numbers of butchers multiplied, thanks to improvements in preservation methods and transport. The Argentinian pampas became one of the leading suppliers of meat in the world.

In 2020, domestic consumption of beef was 110 pounds (50 kg) per citizen, the lowest it has ever been in the last century, and far from the 216 pounds (98 kg) consumed in 1958. However, these figures do not take away from the Argentinians’ devotion to a ritual that can adapt to any budget, and where the occasion is more important than the cuts or the variety.

Barbecue essentials include sausage and steak, accompanied by chimichurri and salsa criolla (relish), as well as a salad of lettuce, tomato, and onion.

There are as many ways to prepare a barbecue as there are barbecue chefs. Strictly speaking, the meat is cooked for hours over a low heat, over hot charcoal, often livened up with a snack, vermouth, or red wine and beer.

Restaurants, however, have elevated the barbecue to gourmet status, incorporating new cuts of meat (short ribs, lamb, wild boar), cooking techniques (smoked, low heat), and preservation techniques (maturing). These have strengthened the flavors and diversified the palate.