Book of Days Tales

Today is Día de la Tradición in Argentina, the day when we celebrate the gaucho.  The gaucho embodies the essence of what it means to be Argentino (somewhat akin to the samurai for Japanese culture). A great deal of the Argentine spirit and values derives from the history and traditions of the gaucho.  Although the rest of the world thinks it, the gaucho is not just an Argentine version of the U.S. cowboy. The gaucho is unique.. Día de la Tradición is celebrated on this day because it is the birthday (1834) of José Hernández (born José Rafael Hernández y Pueyrredón), Argentine journalist, poet, and politician best known as the author of the epic gaucho poem Martín Fierro.

Martín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro (1872) and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879). The poem supplied an historical link to the gauchos’ contribution to the national identity of Argentina; the gaucho played a major role in Argentina’s independence from Spain and in the political development of the independent nation. The poem, written in a dialect of Spanish that evokes rural Argentina, is widely seen as the pinnacle of the genre of gauchesque poetry (poems centered on the life of the gaucho, written in a style that emulates the rural Argentine songs known as payadas) and is still a touchstone of Argentine national character, although fading nowadays. The book has appeared in hundreds of editions and has been translated into over 70 languages.

Typically, the diet of the gaucho was meat supplemented with yerba mate (national drink of Argentina) and nothing else. Many Argentinos are still not awfully far from that mark — they eat prodigious amounts of meat, mostly beef.  In order to eat, all the gaucho needed was his facón (big, sharp knife – heavily featured in Fierro’s deadly duels).  With it he could kill a steer, butcher it, and, when cooked, cut off pieces to eat.  In Argentina grilling, or asado, is the usual way to cook beef.  There are two methods of asado: asado al asador (on a spit), and asado a la parrilla (on a grill).  Asado al asador is the traditional gaucho method, so I will focus on it.  This is your recipe of the day, but I wouldn’t try this at home. Argentinos cook beef a la parilla at home when they have the equipment, and go to restaurants for asado al asador.

Here is an excellent YouTube video concerning asado al asador but the narrator is speaking in idiomatic Argentine Spanish.  No problem – set the CC to English if you are Spanish challenged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsuBAlpFKtY