On Mar 8, 1:56�pm, "Gunner" <gunner@ spam.com> wrote:
> "The Galloping Gourmand" > wrote in oglegroups.com...
> On Mar 2, 11:41?pm, "Gunner" <gunner@ spam.com> wrote:
>
> """Asado a la parilla" is a method of roasting, because it exposes the
> food directly to the radiant and convecting heat from a fire or hot
> coals.""
>
> Actually it translates more like" meat of the grill", * la parilla being the
> grill *and a pretty big difference in the cooking ( roasting) of meat *in an
> oven or on a grill, * but we digress.
Actually, much of the neophyte's confusion about Mexican cooking is
misuse of words such as "asado", "fritado", "cocido", "cazuela",
"enchilado", etc.
If the newbie doesn't know much Spanish, he/she is frquently going to
think that the cooking process is the result.
> Here is *Rick Bayless' take on Carne Asada Tampiquena, aka flank steak
>
> http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/carneasada.htm
OK, Bayless' recipe uses at least two processes to tenderize the meat.
However, we don't know whether the meat was aged, but the tenderizing
effects of putrefaction are well known. Aging meat can be a gamble for
the restaurateur if he doesn't use a lot of any particular meat or
fowl.
Somebody in a London restaurant once asked other diners about whether
a pheasant was fit to eat. The first person wasn't sure, so I tasted
it and agreed that the bird beyond tenderized, it was definitely
rotten.
Then Bayless' recipe says that the beef was marinated in lemon juice
for four hours and was somewhat tenderized by the effects of citric
acid.
The meat was actually fried in oil for 1.5 to 2.0 minutes and then the
cooking process continued as the warm meat "rested" in the oven until
the cook was ready to assemble the plate.
A fry cook in a Mexican grille is likely to just grab the meat off a
tray and slap it on the grille for about two minutes.
I remember getting rare pork chops off a grille at Denny's once.
Apparently the fry cook thought that grilling a pork chop was the same
thing as grilling a rare steak, that the pork should be bloody in the
center. I sent the offending pork chops back.