Uruguayan cuisine

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Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of

yoo (Catalan sweet bread), and alfajores were all brought from Spain. There are also all kinds of stews known as ) have also made it into mainstream Uruguayan dishes.

The base of the country's diet is meat and animal products: primarily

.

Although Uruguay has considerable native

(a grappa honey liquour). Grappamiel is very popular in rural areas, and is often consumed in the cold autumn and winter mornings to warm up the body.

Popular

cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche or a fruit paste. Dulce de leche is used also in flan con dulce de leche.

parrillero

Semana Santa

(Easter).

Pizza (locally pronounced pisa or pitsa) has been wholly included in Uruguayan cuisine, and in its Uruguayan form more closely resembles an Italian

]

Sliced pizza is often served along with fainá, made with chickpea flour and baked like pizza. For example, it is common for pasta to be eaten with white bread ("French bread"), which is unusual in Italy. This can be explained by the low cost of bread, and that Uruguayan pasta tends to come together with a large amount of tuco sauce (Italian: suco - juice), and accompanied by estofado (stew). Less commonly, pastas are eaten with a sauce of pesto, a green sauce made with basil, or salsa blanca (Béchamel sauce). During the 20th century, people in pizzerias in Montevideo commonly ordered a "combo" of moscato, which is a large glass of a sweet wine called (muscat), plus two stacked pieces (the lower one being pizza and the upper one fainá). Despite both pizza and faina being Italian in origin, they are never served together in Italy.

Polenta comes from Northern Italy and is very common throughout Uruguay. Unlike Italy, this cornmeal is eaten as a main dish, with tuco (meat sauce) and melted cheese and or ham.

History

The current roots of Uruguayan cuisine can be traced back to a subsistence economy adopted by gauchos, and sustained on subsistence agriculture implanted by the Spanish and Criollos at the start of European colonization. The native peoples did not stay in one place, and Uruguay was used as a remote port, with few incursions for treasure hunting.^[1]

The only permanent establishment at the time was constituted by

Cattle was later introduced by Hernando Arias de Saavedra.

The first group of immigrants came from poor families from

.

The asado tradition came with gauchos that lived in the country, descendants of those first families that having no land nor home, made cattle raiding their way of life.

Portuguese and Brazilian influence was also added during Portuguese colonization. Feijoada was incorporated into the rest of the guisos.

Food was rudimentary and based on Spanish tradition until immigration at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century when the first families came mostly from Italy and Spain. Immigration increased following World War I and World War II, when people from all over Europe and the Middle East came to Uruguay, including people from Germany, Russia, Italy, and Armenia. Such immigration enriched the importation of dishes, as there is now pasta, Russian salad and innumerable types of pastries from France and Germany, resulting in chajá and alfajores.

Appetizers, entrees and snacks

In Uruguayan cuisine, there is a significant list of preparations and dishes that are included in this category, the most typical or

.

Aperitif

Common spirits produced in Uruguay include grappa and caña; grappa is considered an excellent

Medio y medio is a special blend of

.

Entrees

Picada

Picada can be described as the main entrée of a typical asado (barbecue) and is consumed with aperitifs. It is constituted by cheese (typically Colonia, of Uruguayan origin), olives,

salami

, chips and salted peanuts; peanuts and other snacks are served on small pots and all of the other ingredients are served on a wood table with slices of bread.

Matambre relleno

. It is prepared as luncheon meat by rolling thin slices over spinach, carrots and boiled eggs, tied up and sewn with a strong string, boiled and later pressed and consumed cold.

Lengua a la vinagreta

Lengua a la vinagreta[3]^{[circular reference]} (Spanish for tongue with vinaigrette) is a cold preparation of beef tongue that is previously peeled and boiled and served with a vinagreta sauce made with chopped boiled eggs, parsley, garlic, onions, olive oil, and vinegar.^[4]

Pescado en escabeche

Escabeche is a preserved method common in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. It consists of a mix of oil and vinegar that is used as a marination that also preserves the food.

Pescado en escabeche (escabeche fish) is a cold dish often made from Argentine hake that is buttered as in pescado a la marinera.

After being separately fried, it is parboiled on a vinaigrette made of oil and vinegar that is added to sliced onions and carrots and whole garlic cloves and black pepper.^[5]

Side dishes

Food is mostly eaten with bread, and sometimes rice, salad or chips. Along with asado, accompaniments are chorizo,

, and papas al plomo (roasted potatoes).

Sauces

The most notable sauces in Uruguayan cuisine are chimichurri, salsa criolla and salsa Caruso.

Picantina

Picantina is a spicy sauce commonly added to frankfurters (panchos), hungaras, choripanes and hamburgers. It is common to find in fast food dispensers in the street and is locally called 'carritos'. It resembles hot mustard or mayonnaise.

Mojo

Sharing the same name as the Spanish mojo, it is a simple sauce made with garlic, oil, parsley, oregano, paprika, water and salt, and is added to asado during the cooking process and optionally on the dish. Mojo differs from chimichurri in that it has water besides vinegar and less paprika.

Chimichurri

Chimichurri is between a vinaigrette and a pesto variant, made with parsley, chopped garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, paprika, oil, vinegar, and salt. Along with salsa criolla it is preferred for asado.

Salsa criolla

Made with finely chopped tomatoes and onions, oil and salt, salsa criolla^[6] is used for garment of asado, choripán and sometimes panchos.^[7]

Salsa golf

Mostaza La pasiva

La Pasiva is a famous chain of restaurants in Uruguay, dedicated to fast food or minutas, as known in the region. Their specialties are panchos and hungaras and they are renowned for their chivito. Moustard La pasiva is a white-colored hot mustard served along with panchos. It is made with beer, starch, mustard grains, pepper, salt and vinegar. Though it has never been sold commercially, small quantities are sometimes given as a gift for clients.^{[citation needed]}

Mostaza La pasiva is also used among other mustards as a sauce for puchero meat.

Salsa Caruso, estofado and tuco

All three are necessary pasta sauces among other foreign pasta sauces. Salsa Caruso was made in honor of the opera singer Enrico Caruso and became a popular sauce (especially for its main dish 'cappelettis a la Caruso'); estofado is a stewed version of ragu made from steaks and sometimes eaten alone; tuco, when it is with chopped meat, resembles a bolognese sauce.

Barbecue and salads

Salads

Uruguayan cuisine has adopted and created many salads, the most typical being ensalada criolla.

Ensalada criolla

With slight variants, it is common for a family of salads that are widespread over the southern south cone region; most variants as in the Chilean salad always include onion and lettuce. The salad common to Uruguay contains tomato along with lettuce and onion and is served with a single vinaigrette made of oil, vinegar, salt, garlic, and oregano. As it is a basic form of salad, it is an ideal accompaniment for asado.

Ensalada rusa

More similar to the polish sałatka jarzynowa than the typical olivier salad, it contains potatoes, carrots, and peas with mayonnaise.

Ensalada de papa y huevo

This is a potato and egg salad or onion and potato salad or simply potato mayonnaise and parsley.

Ropa vieja

Resembling an old Spanish salpicon, ropa vieja (Spanish for old clothes) intends to include everything that exceeds from asado, mainly the best cuts of meat chopped with vegetables such as potatoes or ensalada criolla. It is not to be confused with the Cuban ropa vieja which is also a derivative dish but resembles more a sancocho than a salad.

Salpicon de ave

Another derivative salpicon, chicken salpicon is made with chicken, eggs, and potatoes.

Palmitos con salsa golf

Simply heart of palm sometimes rolled in ham slices and served with salsa.

Watercress salad

Basically watercress, olive oil and lemon juice.

Asado

Barbecue asado can be said to make the meal or is the meal itself. The meal and cut of meat are also called asado or tira de asado.

In most Uruguayan homes, it is common to find a special grill on the patio called an asador. It is a structure made of iron and brick. Most asadores are at least two meters by one meter, have a chimney, a place for firewood and a large grill for the meat. Embers produced by the firewood are placed under the grill.

In many towns and cities, street vendors sell asado. These small barbecue grills are called medio tanque (half barrel), because they are made with on adaptation of a split steel drum. Asado cooked this way is sold often on the street as a snack or light lunch.

In the larger cities, such as Montevideo, markets commonly have one or more grill stations where customers can order and eat asado directly at the bar, which may be served with offal, sausages, tapenades, and tapas. It is usually served with lager beer for lunch.

The person making the meal is also called asador.

Asado is often preceded by apéritives such as vermouth, uvita, and medio y medio, an entree called picada and some chorizos, morcillas, and some offal.

Ingredients

Ingredients of a complete Uruguayan asado include chorizo, morcilla, pulpon, entraña, tira de asado,

. Poultry may also be included.

Sometimes, especially on festive days, pork, fish, and lamb are consumed as a substitute for beef, constituting a variant.

Preparation

A typical asado takes from one hour to two hours to be prepared, and even more, if a different kind of meat is going to be barbecued (for example a whole pig takes at least four hours to be ready).

The asador starts the fire in the burner and, once the fire is started, the meat is salted and condiments added; condiments may include oregano, garlic, paprika, parsley and mojo. The first embers are put in place, the meat put on the grill and embers added to as they fall from the burner. The meat is slowly cooked and smoked on the asador and mojo is added periodically for flavor.

The meat is served with bread and salads, condiments such as mojo, chimichurri and Uruguayan salsa criolla and beverages such as wine, clerico and sangria.

Variants - Asado con cuero

Asado con cuero (barbecue with its leather), is a favorite variant rurally and is also appreciated in the capital. It requires a more complex technique than that employed for making asado in that the animal is barbecued whole and even with its hide, though the bones are discarded. This practice was initiated by the pampa people who, if they needed to move on in a hurry, could easily take with them the rolled-up meat.

Beverages

Typical Uruguayan beverages are mate, caña, uvita, grappamiel and medio y medio (half and half).

Grappa

Grappa was brought by Italian immigrants as they kept coming at the immediation of SXIX. Grappamiel and grapa con limon were made in the Country from this Italian influence.^[8]

Uvita

A taste for wine^[9] was acquired from Mediterranean influence, also sangria and clerico. Uvita (little grape) is a fortified wine^[10] resembling marsala wine.

Medio y medio

Literally meaning half and half, medio y medio is a drink blend of caña and sparkling wine or dry wine and sparkling wine. It is made and sold under the trademark Roldos.

Mate

Mate is consumed at any time and on any occasion, solely with tortas fritas or biscochos. It is so important that the act of drinking mate is a ritual of friendship between those involved. Even carrying a thermos of hot water facilitates this practice and on hot summer days it is still said to be refreshing.

Uruguay is the first global consumer of mate, with a consumption of 6.8 kilograms of yerba mate per capita a year, surpassing Argentina by 1.2 kilograms per capita at year.^[11]

Yerba mate also is consumed as mate cocido. When it is prepared with milk it is called mate de leche and milk is added, it is called mate con leche.

Grapa con limon

Grappa is sold under various trademarks but the most significant one is San Remo. It is distilled and bottled by ANCAP and there was also an attempt to produce the original Italian grappa by some local cellars. When macerated with lemon it is called grapa con limon.

Caña

Caña is an amber-coloured drink distilled similar to

Grappamiel

Grappamiel or Grapamiel is a mixed

Stews and puchero

Specially suitable for cold days, Uruguayan guisos or stews are highly revitalizing, especially for their puchero, followed by buseca, guiso carrero, guiso de fideos (noodle stew), estofado and feijoada.

Spanish culinary influence is marked in Uruguayan stews, Also there are Italian and Portuguese-Brazilian influences, this last coming from the

of Uruguay.

Puchero

From Spanish tradition puchero, Uruguayan puchero differs not much from others of the region, it is like a rough soup where dry ingredients are separated from the broth after cooked to make two separate preparations, a new soup that is first consumed, and later the soup all the other succulent ingredients are consumed with bread.

A typical puchero may contain all type of cuts with bones,

, onions, celery, carrot, sweet potato, squash, and potatoes.

All these ingredients cut in big pieces are cooked and served, with the broth are made different soups containing small noodles, rice or any cereal of predilection.

It is usual that each commensal makes their

on his dish with all the cooked vegetables that have been served, aligning it with oil if desired, and also to take off the caracu (bone marrow) from the ossobucco bone and spread it over pieced bread.

Mustards of the brand Savora and also La pasiva are used for garnishing puchero meat.

Ensopado

A dish for summer days and popular on rural areas, consisted on broth, noodles and gross slices of meat, chorizo sausage. and tocino bacon boiled together.^[15]

Its vegetable composition is reduced due is pretended to not ferment on hot days, so it only has few onions and squash.

Its name comes from verb ensopar (to moist, to soup), participle ensopado (being souped).

Guiso carrero

Sometimes it is hard to say what is Argentinian and what is Uruguayan (history links people strongly). Guiso carrero is part of not only cuisine, but Uruguayan folklore. It is a succulent meal consistent of meat, butterbeans, and noodles.

Popular chefs can assure that it is a delicious stew containing potato, sweet potato, noodles, squash, onion, tomato, beans, and the best meat.

Guiso carrero is served with red wine, bread and grated cheese.

When guiso carrero does not contain noodles, it is called guiso de porotos, and when it does not have beans, it is called guiso de fideos or ensopado.

Buseca

Buseca from Italian tradition also known as cazuela de mondongo in Spain.

Its main ingredient is the mondongo, which is a

, tomato and potato.

Feijoada

A dish originating from

influence that takes a bit from the main Rioplatense culture.

Very popular all over Brazil, feijoada also is popular in Uruguay (though not in Argentina). Consumed not only on the northeast but also all along with the country, it is a black bean stew that, unlike the Brazilian feijoada, comes with potatoes (besides bananas and fariña), and made with beef more often than pork. It is also common to find chorizo and chorizo Colorado in Uruguayan feijoada.

Bacalao

Bacalao is a dry fish stew made from dried and salted cod, chickpeas, onions, potatoes, tomato sauce, and parsley, it is usually consumed on Uruguay over Easter, as it is a Spanish catholic tradition.

Italian style stews

Also very popular on Uruguayan cuisine, ragu styled stews still are very popular, such as albondigas con papas and estofado.

Niños envueltos

Literally meaning wrapped children, a stew consisting of small wraps the length of a human finger. They are made of loin slices that are filled with bacon, spinach, and carrots, and later boiled in a tomato sauce and served with peas and boiled potatoes.

Estofado

Made from poultry or cow meat, it is called estofado de pollo when made with poultry and estofado de carne when it has cow meat. It is a dish that contains meat and chorizo or chicken, stewed in tomato sauce, and sometimes served with a side of boiled potatoes or pasta.

Albondigas con papas

Spanish for

with potatoes, albondigas con papas is a dish made from meatballs boiled in tomato sauce with potatoes and peas.

Albondigas con papas are eaten with cheese and parsley.

Minutas

Minuta is the local name for Río de la Plata's fast food.

Common side dishes are fried eggs, croquetas, French fries, purée, and salads.

The most notable minutas are milanesas, refuerzos such as choripanes, chivitos and pizza and faina; also, the bauru is common along the Brazilian border.

Choripan

Choripan, Spanish

for sausage (chorizo) and bread (pan) also called chorizo al pan (sausage on bread), is a sandwich made with barbecued chorizo (that is sliced in half to fit), mayonnaise, ketchup, tomato, lettuce, onions, etc.

Hungaras

Hungaras are like panchos, boiled sausages but more spicy and thinner and longer; like panchos also they come served on bread and they are found on the street served as fast food and also sold apart in supermarkets.

Milanesas

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