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Maschler on the Gaucho Grill


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i should start by qualifying myself, as many here don't necessarily know that i'm from argentina; a relevant characteristic considering i'm about to give my views on a recent review of an argentine restaurant in london, the gaucho grill. the review can be accessed via the weekly media roundup.

fay maschler's review is bland, disorganised, and lacks a clear point. she spends roughly a quarter of the short review on introducing the new influence in gaucho grill's menu; nuevo latino and the NY stalwart of this movement, d. rodriguez. after such an introduction i would expect a more profound conclusion than: "...but the new menu does succeed in providing an enlightened look at other South American possibilities, nuevo ones even."

does the menu work in the context of an argentine restaurant outside of its homeland? do the nuevo latino dishes sit well alongside the integrity and grass-roots attitude of argentine steak (what else do we go to "gaucho grill" for)? can an argentine restaurant (outside of argentina manned by non-argentine chefs) dress these clothes? answering these questions was going to be the point of her article, or so her introduction lead the reader to believe.

i should take a step back here and place you in, along, my thought process. andy's review on vineet bhatia's new venture begins with the duality of authenticity - should or shouldn't it be the measure of things. for a balanced view on this issue read his review; to follow my thoughts read on.

authenticity is very important, its like a brand that carries with it emotions and perceptions taht ensure us of its quality, tradition, its history and longevity. in food it is a testament to the tried and tested; a thousand palate's seal of approval. however important it should not become a measure of success - doing so would stifle creativity - but it serves as a critical reference point by which we can critique.

fay maschler lacks this reference point. she is so far out of her depth that she can't even begin to ponder the virtues or lack thereof of an argentine restaurant. restaurants brand themselves as italian or argentine only when traveling abroad, in order to qualify their offering and deliver preconceived expectations. argentina does not have a marked cuisine and thus all restaurants outside of my homeland are sold as steak-houses (foolishly i think because more than one menu could be put together without any steak involved). to me you either have an argentinian trained chef at the helm (as a note, francis mallman won the grand prix the same year as gagnaire, a year before ramsay) cooking his cuisine, or you abide by authenticity to guide your menu. on the former a critic can amuse us with the particular reaction of his tastebuds, on the latter any critic needs a reference point for the content to be of value.

-che

Edited by CheGuevara (log)
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I'm not a big Maschler fan, and sorry, can't be bothered to fill out all the online forms that allow "free" registration (time is money after all) to this article.

However, my sense is that Gaucho Grill has been - is ? - a steak house with some Argentine wines on it, maybe a couple of other Argentine dishes - granted it has been awhile since I've been to one. What have they added that's particularly Argentine?

In fact, I'd be very interested in your take on what Argentine food is. I travelled around Argentina for about a month last year and found the food to be very good indeed. But just as I can't really put my finger on what "American" food is, I couldn't quite describe most of what I had as specifically Argentine. I had Armenian food, Chinese food, Italian food...a fair amount of what I can only describe as "global fusion food", and of course lots and lots of steak and potatoes. Yes, there were some specific ingredients that re-appeared - dulce de leche everywhere; incomparable beef everywhere; empanadas almost everywhere and...dulce de alcayotas (sp? yum!) in Mendoza...but nothing else that cried Argentina for me...

Edited by magnolia (log)
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However, my sense is that Gaucho Grill has been - is ? - a steak house with some Argentine wines on it, maybe a couple of other Argentine dishes - granted it has been awhile since I've been to one. What have they added that's particularly Argentine?

In fact, I'd be very interested in your take on what Argentine food is. I travelled around Argentina for about a month last year and found the food to be very good indeed. But just as I can't really put my finger on what "American" food is, I couldn't quite describe most of what I had as specifically Argentine. I had Armenian food, Chinese food, Italian food...a fair amount of what I can only describe as "global fusion food", and of course lots and lots of steak and potatoes. Yes, there were some specific ingredients that re-appeared - dulce de leche everywhere; incomparable beef everywhere; empanadas almost everywhere and...dulce de alcayotas (sp? yum!) in Mendoza...but nothing else that cried Argentina for me...

what they've added is not particularly argentine - it is south american or more precisely "latino". it was patria chef rodriguez who consulted gaucho grill on its "non-steak" part of the menu. you mentioned the argentine wines, and it is something i forgot to comment on in my post. the list is extensive and quite good, maschler fails to mention but one wine. today argentina is producing incredibly good wines, and they are earning a desrved reputation outside of the country. gaucho grill offers over 70.

argentine food has had three major influences. the first were the inhabitants, called criollos in argentina. these have provided the only indigenous food, based on corn and manioc such as humita (on the gaucho grill menu) and locro (stew) among others. these would be the only recipes which bear any resemblence to our neighbors and what is commonly known as "latin cuisine".

the second influence comes from the colonial britain, who came to argentina in the mid 1800's and brought aberdeen and hereford steers. this gave the us our passion for meat, and it was the preference of british landowners for cuts of beef with higher meat content. the gauchos (or criollo cowboys) ate what the landowners didn't and thus we have now a wonderful selection of cuts, aside from sirloin and filet, which have bone and fat.

the third influnece comes from european immigration in the 1900's, primarily spanish, italian and to a lesser extent french. this has given us our modern cuisine. (tortilla de papas is very typical argentine to us, and it is practically a spanish institution.)

our food is a melting-pot of european recipes with a preference for meat over fish. as good as our fish is, it does not to me form part of argentine cuisine. then again, go to any of the excellent basque restaurants in buenos aires, and you'll have spectacular fish and shellfish. ethnic cooking is non-existent, except for the odd chinese and now japanese. forget indian, thai, middle eastern, creole, etc.

we eat simple food at home and simple food in the restaurants (buenos aires the exception), we are not imaginative as a nation, but we do have great produce and incredible meat. so good, that you grab any piece of meat, put salt on it, throw some vegetables in the pan, chuck it in the oven and you can't go wrong. the meat will never be tough or dry.

-che

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Thanks Che - this is a really interesting and informative post

The two best pieces of beef I have had in London were a chateubriand at chez bruce and an awesome steak at the Gaucho grill.

i'm glad you find it interesting. it's made me want to do some more research on my own country's culinary history.

maybe i should write an article on it.

-che

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to me you either have an argentinian trained chef at the helm [...] cooking his cuisine, or you abide by authenticity to guide your menu.

I see your point, that bolting-on a fairly random selection of dishes to the menu and calling it 'nuevo latino' scarcely enhances the dining experience at Gaucho Grill. But since, as you say,

Argentina does not have a marked cuisine

how would you suggest that they widen the authentic Argentinan dining experience? Are they not rather to be commended for even trying to introduce a wider range of choice to their customers?

Fi Kirkpatrick

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the second influence comes from the colonial britain, who came to argentina in the mid 1800's and brought aberdeen and hereford steers.

Che - I thought the cattle came over with the first Spanish immigrants in the 17th century and prospered on the pampas - is that wrong?

I've only spent a couple of weeks in Argentina (last year - one in BA and one in the Salta region) but I have to say I found the food quite "one note". Yes I had the best steak I've ever eaten (in El Rancho in the tiny town of Cafayate) but after the sixth steak meal even I was craving something different. In fact the first thing we did on getting back to BA was hot foot to the (only) south-east Asian noodle bar.

Edit to add that we did have our fill of empenadas, tamale and humitas but this is not the mark of a great cuisine. The latter two in particular are sometimes barely edible. Great steak though!

Edited by Winot (log)
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Edit to add that we did have our fill of empenadas, tamale and humitas but this is not the mark of a great cuisine.  The latter two in particular are sometimes barely edible.  Great steak though!

Really? I love tamales - or are you just referring to the quality?

think I might be going off topic sorry :raz:

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I see your point, that bolting-on a fairly random selection of dishes to the menu and calling it 'nuevo latino' scarcely enhances the dining experience at Gaucho Grill.  But since, as you say,

how would you suggest that they widen the authentic Argentinan dining experience?  Are they not rather to be commended for even trying to introduce a wider range of choice to their customers?

when i say that argentina has no marked cuisine, it is because it is made up of foreing influences as explained in my earlier post. pasta, stews, tortilla de papas, milanesa (breaded veal) - are italian, spanish, not argentine. nevertheless, it is definitely not latin.

if you move away from the steak-house routine, then add traditional argentine recipes, the things you'd find in a local restaurant. i could mention them, but you would recognise it simply as home cooking.

i would serve up offal - we serve pretty much the entire cow in argentina - for example, i'd make my own chorizos and morcilla (black pudding), serve the treaditional peasant locro, make home made rogel (dulce de leche based cake), etc.

i must say that there are a number of excellent new restaurants in argentina at the moment. the chefs are really doing incredible things with local produce and inspiration. edit: buit you'd recognise it as french technique for lack of a better description.

-che

Edited by CheGuevara (log)
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Che - I thought the cattle came over with the first Spanish immigrants in the 17th century and prospered on the pampas - is that wrong?

I've only spent a couple of weeks in Argentina (last year - one in BA and one in the Salta region) but I have to say I found the food quite "one note".  Yes I had the best steak I've ever eaten (in El Rancho in the tiny town of Cafayate) but after the sixth steak meal even I was craving something different.  In fact the first thing we did on getting back to BA was hot foot to the (only) south-east Asian noodle bar.

Edit to add that we did have our fill of empenadas, tamale and humitas but this is not the mark of a great cuisine.  The latter two in particular are sometimes barely edible.  Great steak though!

yes, cattle probably did come with spanish immigrants which i believe came in the late 1400's. nevertheless, the tradition of asado as we know it today is much more recent. gauchos always had the tradition of eating meat as they roamed the pampas, but as far as the history i know of, the cuts we have today come from the time of the british cattle. asado is also the name of a cut of beef found only in argentina, and it appears to be that these were the "leftovers" which the english did not eat due to their bone and fat content.

i'd have to disagree with you one the "one-note" comment. the food is varied and of excellent quality, yet by no means refined. as one example, there are over 12-15 cuts of beef, not including offal, from the cow alone and each is distinct in texture and flavour. logically if you have steak all the time, it gets tiring - even for an argentine. we have excellent fish as well.

argentina has a wonderful home cuisine. i find it amusing that in the US and here when you order a salad it comes off the menu...it is its own recipe (barring nicoise, waldorf, etc.). in argentina, as in italy, salads are ordered by ingredient. the dressing, is lemon or vinegar and oil or olive oil. that's how you cook at home, not through a recipe, but by understanding how to compose a balanced meal out of a few simple ingredients.

-che

edit: first sentence should probably read "spanish colonisers" :raz:

Edited by CheGuevara (log)
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Thanks Che - this is a really interesting and informative post

The two best pieces of beef I have had in London were a chateubriand at chez bruce and an awesome steak at the Gaucho grill.

i'm glad you find it interesting. it's made me want to do some more research on my own country's culinary history.

maybe i should write an article on it.

-che

Che - I have a book I would be happy to lend you, by Derek Foster - the food critic for the BA Herald. Despite his name, he's Argentine through & through.

I never even came across tamales or humita.

I do see your point about the availability of "ethnic" cuisine being negligible *outside* Buenos Aires - I had French food, and excellent pizza elsewhere but you're right, lots of meat and fish, simply prepared but delicious with great raw materials.

However, in Bs As, I'd say there's decent variety; it may not have the huge range of London, Paris or New York, but I came across Moroccan, Indian, Armenian, and I seem to remember, thai. And I only visited a couple of neighbourhoods, I can only imagine there's more to it...Anyway, it seemed pretty cosmopolitan to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...
these things only happen to me. and i even recognise the name now from other posts.

very nice article btw, especially the first two paragraphs.

-che

edit: spelling

lol. Wait till you find out that Curlywurlifi is Fay Maschler.

"Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer..." Bessie Smith

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