Uruguay’s Different Grilled Meats and Where to Try Them

There is one designated person in each asado that holds a great responsibility: turning on and keeping the fire, and cooking all the delicious products on the grill. Just turning on the fire can be a complicated task for many, and knowing the right amount of coal to put under the grill for each food and keep up with their respective cooking times is a masterful task. This is why the asador is a respected figure, and once an asador has been selected in a group it’s usually going to be that person for every asado.

The first things that go in and out of the grill are called picada, which means something like “to snack on,” which is literally what people do with these shared delicacies. A crucial element of the picada is bread—which is usually a baguette or garlic bread—because most things in life are best enjoyed with a piece of bread. A good picada also can’t miss out on:
Chorizo and salchicha

Chorizo is a typical Uruguayan sausage made of pork. It’s short and thick, unlike salchicha which is long and thin. You can also get specialties like red chorizo and salchicha which are spicier, and other varieties that have cheese inside. They are best enjoyed with a piece of bread, mayo, and tomato. You can have them cold the next day but never raw—they are not salami.

Provolone cheese

This is a special kind of cheese that is melted on a little iron pan on top of coals under the grill. Depending on the brand and how people cook it, it can go all melted or with a cheese crust at the bottom and melted on top. Either way it’s delicious and people usually fight for the last pieces of this cheese. You can eat it on its own or with a piece of bread, or accompanying any of the other elements of the picada.

Morcilla

Morcilla is basically a blood sausage. Even though this doesn’t sound very appetizing it’s a really tasty dish. There’s sweet and savory morcillas, and usually someone that really likes one doesn’t like the other. The sweet ones usually have raisins; you can also get specialty savory morcillas with nuts and olives which is amazing. They’re best savored with a piece of bread and you can also have it with a piece of provolone cheese.

Achuras

This is the global name for various cuts of meat that are actually organs, most usually from the calf but can also be from other animals. Depending on the tastes of the group of people making the asado, some achuras are more popular than others, but the main ones are molleja and chinchulin. Kidney and liver are also common but not so much.
Molleja

These are the calf’s thyroid glands. No one knows who first thought of grilling calf glands but it’s delicious. The meat is quite fatty and soft, and tastes great with lemon and a piece of bread.

Chinchulin

Many people don’t like this because of where it comes from: chinchulin is the calf’s small intestine. Bear in mind that they’re obviously cleaned before cooking and there’s not much in a calf’s small intestine other than milk, but it can still be unappealing for many. It’s actually delicious, but people either love it or hate it. It’s very hard to grill because the texture can turn very rubbery if not cooked right. It’s also best enjoyed with lemon juice and a piece of bread.

The one meat that can’t be missed is beef, because it’s the most traditional and iconic to Uruguay. Uruguay exports some of the best quality beef in the world. Usually people buy a cut called colita de cuadril, which is the rear, very soft, lean, and juicy without bone. Another popular cut is asado de tira, which is the meat next to the ribs and comes with bone. It’s really tasty and quite fatty. Other meats to have on the grill are matambrillo de cerdo, which is a delicious pork cut, quite fatty, and amazing with lemon. You can also have lamb rack and chicken on the grill.

Now that you know the basics, remember that the best asado is whatever you make of it. You can try great asados at these venues: