Asado

Asado is the technique, and the accompanying social occasion, of barbecuing meat over an open fire or a grill called a parrilla, especially in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. A cook known as an asador or parrillero manages the fire and turns the meat, typically beef along with pork, chicken, chorizo and morcilla, cooking it slowly over hot coals for roughly two hours. Seasoning stays minimal, usually just salt applied before or during cooking, and the fire is tended so dripping fat does not fall directly onto the coals and produce smoke that would taint the flavor. Two main methods are used: al asador, in which a whole splayed animal carcass is held on a metal cross over an open ground fire, and a la parrilla, in which a grill holding the meat sits above formed charcoal.