Cooking, Argentina-Style
An evening with Espiritu Zorro
One of the most defining things about other countries is their cuisine. Food is a critical part of culture as it reflects the history, agriculture, lifestyle and attitude of a country. Our travel group was treated to a special evening at Espiritu Zorro, a unique cooking and distillery experience in an old family home in the heart of Chacras de Coria in Mendoza Province. Espiritu Zorro means Fox Spirit and the fox is, indeed, their logo for their distilled spirits and wine.
We were greeted at the front gate by Paula who escorted us through the yard, past pomegranate trees, to the shaded and very private backyard and garden. Next to the shaded dining area under a beautiful pergola was a full kitchen with a cement island for preparation, a pizza oven dome, a small sink, a traditional asado (grill), and a tall chimney-type oven which served as a cooktop, grill, oven, and a smoker depending on where in the chimney stack the food was placed. Very interesting.
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Our chef tonight was Joanne who was fun and entertaining, and had mad knife skills. She started by sharing that tonight's experience would be just like a typical evening if going to a friend's house for dinner in Argentina. They always start with a picada which is essentially a platter of snacks - typically meats, cheeses, olives, nuts, roasted vegetables, etc. She also had homemade bread - still warm.
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She then fried a very thick slice of provolone cheese in a sauté pan and topped it with sautéed scallions and red peppers, salt & pepper, and drizzled with olive oil. One side of the cheese was cooked longer to form a “crust” type of finish. She cut it like a pizza and we all took a slice. Very simple and delicious.
Joanne explained that Argentina has many different agricultural areas because the country is so vast from north to south, so there is a great variety of foods available. Menus change depending on what food is in season and also reflects the region. Tonight, we would focus on some of the amazing beef in Argentina for our empanadas and our entree.
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Each of us was given a cutting board and knife and instructed to dice and roughly chop certain vegetables for both the quinoa salad and the side dish - scallions, zanahoria (carrots), potatoes, and a lovely little squash called zapallito. It essentially looks like a zucchini on the inside but is short and rounded. Very pretty.
The salad was very simply a bowl of quinoa to which she added our diced zapallito and scallions, raisins, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt & pepper. It was simple and fresh and delicious - that seems to be a theme with Argentinian food. She talked about variations - one could add green apple or nuts or any other vegetable. Pretty much anything, depending on your taste and what is freshly available at that time.
Our entree was a gorgeous beef tenderloin that she cut into individual portions, rubbed with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and put into her grill/smoker at different levels depending on our preferences of how we liked it cooked. At the same time she was caramelizing thinly sliced onions in a deep clay pot to which she added diced filet and smoked sausage and stuck back onto the fire to roast for about an hour. This would be the makings of our empanadas.
They grill using wood and wood embers. There is a small fire with the wood placed vertically on top of a grate in the corner of the chimney. As the embers fall below the grate, they are moved with a small shovel and placed underneath the cooking food or pots or whatever. Pretty ingenious for a constant level of heat.
Once the meat and onion mixture was done, she added some gorgeous spices - salt, paprika, oregano, and red pepper flakes - and mixed it all up. After a beautiful display of how empanadas are supposed to be made, she turned them over to us for an empanada-making contest! Prizes were awarded for prettiest and ugliest empanada. All in good fun because, regardless of how they looked, they all tasted amazing. Not to be left out, the Vegetarian in our group had a delicious empanada stuffed with the quinoa salad we made and some roquefort cheese that melted so delicately when cooked.
The entree (not that we’re even hungry at this point) was the beef tenderloin with roasted vegetables. All served with several bottles of Espiritu Zorro wine, bread and olive oil. Dessert was very simply fresh pomegranate with a crumble.
We left with full tummies and great memories. Hopefully, we can recreate some of these wonderful dishes when we return home. The hospitality and beauty of our time at Espiritu Zorro really exemplifies what we’ve found in our travels across Argentina - the people are warm and kind and want so much for us to enjoy ourselves. Mission accomplished.
If you find yourself in the Mendoza region of Argentina or in Chacras de Coria, be sure to check out Espiritu Zorro for a memorable evening of cooking with friends.They also offer distillery experiences as well as their cooking class. Check out their website here for more information.
