FOOD MATE - National Drink

How to make it : 1 Obtain a gourd and bombilla. Mate is traditionally steeped and served in a hollow calabash gourd (itself called a mate) and drunk through a metal straw called bombilla. 2 Pack the dry, loose yerba mate into the gourd just over half full. 3 Place your hand on the top of the half-filled gourd and turn it upside-down. Shake the more powdery leaves to the top of the gourd with several flicks of the wrist. 4 Insert the bombilla into the gourd: Put the bombilla in the empty space next to the pile, being careful not to disturb the arrangement. Bring the end of the bombilla to the bottom and against the wall, as far from the powdery tip of the pile as possible. 5 Pour hot water into the empty space as you did with the cool water. It is important that you use hot water,not boiling water. 6 Drink from the bombilla. Newcomers to mate tend to jiggle the bombilla and stir the herb. ,dont do it ! You should hear a sound similar to when drinking soda with straw. THINGS YOU HAVE TO KNOW : In a group, the first brew is traditionally drunk by the person who prepares the mate. If you are the server, drink the mate until there is no water left, then refill the gourd with hot water and pass it to the next person, sharing the same bombilla. Keep refilling the gourd as it's passed around (one brew per person) until it loses its flavor. To signal that you don't want any more mate, give thanks to the server, once you give thanks it will be understood that you do not want anymore.

LAMB - National Dish

Asado means "roast" or "barbecued" and in Argentina this is the choice of rich and poor, according to what beef-cut is used and how complete the ordeal is. Added to the meat, one can have a number of vittles, namely entrails, that are a sophisticated touch to the typical Sunday meal, or "celebration meal", since it is used as "birthday meal", "national holiday meal" or "any excuse meal". The origin of the asado goes back to the easy preparation the "gauchos", used to make out in the open while driving herds of cattle, or just traveling on horseback from one town to another. It was the easiest way to get oneself a meal: Kill a young animal on the way or buy a chunk of meat and roast it over embers. They made a primitive sort of barbecue with stones piled up on the floor enclosing the site where the fire was then made. Nowadays, people go to the butcher's or the supermarket to get their stuff and roast it over charcoal embers If the choice is ribs, you'll want to get them cut into wide strips, about 4 to 6 inches, so they won't lose juice when they are being cooked. How to make it : -Get the meat cut into wide strips or, whenever possible, the whole piece, to keep the juice in. -Start the fire with hard firewood, -Let the embers form, don't leave any piece of charcoal unkindled, or it will affect your liver in a not too pleasant way. Firewood does not need to be completely kindled, as long as there are enough embers to cook the meat, so it will have a good smoky flavour, but make sure there are no flames. -Prepare a fire big enough to star using half the embers and leave the rest to add more firewood or charcoal for further use. Thus, you'll have more embers ready to add on whenever you need

them. -While the fire is getting ready, have the meat acquiring room temperature. -Burn the grill before you put the meat on. -Put the meat on bones first, or, if it's flank, the thick, connective tissue first. -Check the speed after about five minutes, so it doesn't go too fast. Otherwise, it will be overdone, or charred on the outside, and raw in the middle. -Salt when you turn it over. -The ideal is slightly grey inside and juicy enough, but your taste will decide.