Looking for new ideas for the grill, now that summer has officially begun? You might take a cue from Latin traditions. If you do, you’ll pass by those thick hunks of meat at the market and head for the thin-cut steaks. And you’ll add flavor with particularly Latin combinations of spices.
It all adds up to easy preparations and quick cooking times, leaving more time to enjoy summer’s pleasures.
More chefs in Chicago and nationwide are grilling to a Latin beat as South American, Spanish and Mexican cuisines grow in popularity. Popular city and suburban restaurants such as Fogo de Chao, Tango Sur, Andalucia and Sal & Carvao Churrascaria feature the classic grilled meats of Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Mexico and other Hispanic countries.
And why are Americans just now catching on to Latin grilling? The opinions vary. Sal Santamaria, international buyer for Laredo Spices & Herbs in Chicago, credits the rise in the Hispanic population in the U.S. for the increasing spiciness of the national palate. And, “it’s due to the growing mix of the Anglo/Hispanic crowd,” he said.
More Latin foods are showing up in supermarkets as a result and “that growth is a result of increased usage in restaurants,” said Sue Shannon, of the Center for Culinary Development, a San Francisco marketing firm. She noted a 9 percent increase in new Latin products in the past five years.
But what makes a grilled meat Latin? It’s the thinner cuts of meat together with their preparation before the fire is lighted. Unlike thick cuts of beef which require a long stint in a closed grill, thinner Latin-style meats cook up in minutes.
As for why skinny steaks are so popular, area chefs aren’t quite sure.
“It cooks fast for people in a rush,” offered Sergio Sanchez, owner of Cabo Grill in Chicago.
“We just like to pound our meat to death,” added Berta Navarro, chef/owner of Cafe 28.
Nationally known New York City chef Douglas Rodriguez simply joked about the favorite Latin cuts: “We don’t know what happened to all the good cuts of beef in Latin America.
“We use stuff like … skirt steaks, flank steaks, the toughest meats out there. And those you have to cook quickly.”
Rodriguez, regarded by some as the inventor of Nuevo Latino cuisine, gives some advice in his “Latin Flavors on the Grill” cookbook:
“Cooking with low heat is great for a big cut of meat or a big bird, but with Latin grilling you want to sear with high heat. You want that charcoal flavor when the fat hits the grill and the smoke pours up into the meat.”
There’s no special equipment for Latin grilling, and the combustibles are the same. At his Calle Ocho in New York and four other restaurants across the country, Rodriguez burns wood, preferably fruitwood such as cherry, but regular charcoal works fine for home cooks.
Marinade spice
“The Latin flavor is in the marinade,” Rodriguez said. And that marinade’s flavor comes from spices and herbs, which come to life on meats grilled over open flame.
“A Latin spice can be from Turkey or India or Mexico. It can be from wherever,” said spice buyer Santamaria. “If it’s in the hands of a Latino, it’s a Latin spice.”
Santamaria knows the Latin spice trade–he oversees the purchase of 40,000 pounds of chilies each month. And he knows not to exclude any spice or herb, no matter the origin, from the Latin umbrella.
Thomas Erd of The Spice House, with shops in Chicago, Evanston and Milwaukee, explained that spices that are now widely produced in South and Central America and the Caribbean, like nutmeg and ginger, were actually transported across the ocean in the 17th Century. Spanish, French and Dutch settlers delivered new spices, like pepper, garlic and cilantro, to the New World.
“The only spices indigenous to those regions were allspice, chilies and vanilla,” Erd said. “The rest of what we consider Latin flavors came from elsewhere in the world.”
But it’s the way the spices are combined that sets Latin seasoning apart.
“To me, Latin flavor is a melding of sweet, hot and salty spices,” he added. Latinos “have been using these spices for centuries. Other people are finally catching on.”
“Latin spices are becoming mainstream foods,” said Navarro, of Cafe 28, whose menu includes a Spanish influence (paprika and garlic), a Mexican kick (jalapeno and ancho chilies) and a Cuban flair (onion and citrus).
At Cabo Grill, before any meat touches Sanchez’s grill, the meat receives a dry rub of 10 spices, including paprika, oregano and cumin, which blend to produce a complex, sweet/hot flavor. Sanchez goes through a gallon of the homemade concoction per week.
“Mexican cuisine is taking off like wildfire, but the food is not necessarily hot,” Sanchez said. “It can include onions and garlic with lime, lemon and orange.”
The simple way
Though some local Latin chefs are incorporating multiple spices in marinades, others season more simply.
At Chicago’s Fogo de Chao, part of a Brazilian chain, diners experience the churrascaria style of cooking, which harkens to the gauchos. These cowboys of Brazil would bury hunks of meat underground, slow-roasting their dinner in pits over coals. The chefs at Fogo de Chao don’t bury their meats, but do stick to tradition with the spicing–the simple life of a gaucho is reflected in the simple seasoning for beef: salt.
“You want to keep the real flavor of each particular cut of beef,” said Jai Coser, a founder of the chain, which has grown in popularity since opening stateside in 1997.
Also sticking with the salt are the cooks at the Argentinean-inspired Tango Sur, which uses only Argentine rock salt to prep its cuts of beef. Of course, the classic chimichurri sauce, complete with garlic, oregano, parsley and peppers, adds flavor to the beef postgrilling.
In the southern region of Spain known as Andalucia, though, spices take a back seat to an oil.
“The key to grilling is using extra-virgin olive oil,” said Mario Oziel of Andalucia restaurant in Chicago. The saffron, cumin and oregano in Oziel’s dishes are only supporting characters to olive oil, in which the meat marinates while folded around the spices and tied with a string.
As the cultures of the globe continue to mix, Latin grilling is gaining a wider audience. It might soon be as common in a snowy La Grange back yard or on a 15th- floor balcony in the Gold Coast as in Argentina.
Once you’ve become a Latin grillmaster, it’s time to throw a fiesta. Team the grilled meat with corn or tomato salads, sliced fruits, warm tortillas and plenty of salsas and other condiments.
Rodriguez suggests preparing everything but the meat ahead of time and cooking once the guests arrive.
“The grilling can be the entertainment,” he said.
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Classes feature the Latin style
Want to learn more about Latin grilling? Local Latin chefs and cooking teachers are eager to share their grilling secrets. Here are just a few in the Chicago area.
– Fredy Hernandez offers private lessons and instructs “Summer Latin Grill,” beginning July 15 at Dinner at Eight cooking school, 1167 Wilmette Ave., Wilmette. Reservations are required–fee is $50. Call 312-942-1492.
Anthony Garcia of ARG Cooking School in Brook-field offers classes on barbeque and tamales. Call 708-485-7041.
– The Chopping Block cooking schools offer classes like Global Grilling, featuring Argentine steak with chi-michurri sauce, and Urban Grilling, in which high-rise dwellers can learn to barbeque tacos de carne asada. Call 773-472-6700.
Dry rub for grilled meat, fish or chicken
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1/2 cup
– “We put this dry rub on everything,” says owner Sergio Sanchez, who goes through a gallon of the homemade concoction per week at the Cabo Grill. Here is a less industrial-sized recipe.
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon each: granulated garlic, dried cilantro leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons each: salt, freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon each: dried oregano, ground red pepper, coarse salt, ground cumin
Zest of 1/4 large orange
Zest of 1/3 lemon
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Store, covered in airtight container.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
10 calories, 18% of calories from fat, 0.3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mgcholesterol, 2 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g protein, 510 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Chimichurri sauce
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Chilling time: 8 hours
Yield: 3/4 cup
– “The flavor for our grilled meats comes from the sauce,” says Tango Sur owner Sergio Di Sapio. “In Argentina everybody has a different way of making their chimichurri sauce.” Serve this pungent sauce over grilled flank steak, skirt steak or chicken.
1/2 cup each: olive oil, chopped parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon each: sweet paprika, dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Process all ingredients in a blender, scraping down the sides, as necessary, to make a smooth sauce. Refrigerate at least 8 hours.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
82 calories, 97% of calories from fat, 9 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 0.5 g carbohydrates, 0.1 g protein, 99 mg sodium, 0.2 g fiber
Grilled duck breasts with chili rub
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Resting time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
– Adapted from a recipe from Berta Navarro. If you like, you can rub the spice mixture on the duck and marinate overnight.
4 duck breasts, 10 ounces each
1 tablespoon each: chili powder, sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons each: salt, ground red pepper, freshly ground pepper
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together chili powder, paprika, salt and peppers in a small bowl; rub on all sides of duck. Set aside.
2. Prepare grill for indirect cooking. Grill duck, skin side down, on the cooler part of the grill over a drip pan until browned, about 6 minutes. Turn duck over; move to hotter part of grill. Grill until reaching desired doneness, about 3 minutes for medium-rare. Remove to platter; let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition information per serving:
587 calories, 49% of calories from fat, 31 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 386 mg cho-lesterol, 3 g carbohydrates, 70 g protein, 1,131 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
Pasilla and wild mushroom sauce for grilled meats
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 3 1/2 cups
– Adapted from a recipe served at Cafe 28 by Berta Navarro. Look for the dried pasilla chilies in the produce department or Mexican aisle of the supermarket.
4 dried pasilla chilies
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 corn tortillas
1/2 cup toasted whole pumpkin seeds, see note
2 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Juice of 1/2 lime
1. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. Add chilies; toast, turning frequently, until slightly puffed and very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; cover with hot water. Let soften, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are soft, about 8 minutes.
3. Drain chilies; remove stems and seeds. Place chilies in a blend-er with tortillas, pumpkin seeds and 3/4 cup of the chicken broth. Puree into a thick paste. Add the paste to the mushroom mixture; add remaining 2 cups of the chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cook until hot, 2 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and lime juice.
Note: To toast pumpkin seeds, place in a dry skillet over medium high heat. Cook, tossing, until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Nutrition information per 1/4 cup serving:
202 calories, 49% of calories from fat, 11 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 10 mg cho-lesterol, 19 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 596 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
Grilled pork tenderloin with mojo marinade
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Marinating time: 4 hours
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Standing time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
– Berta Navarro of Cafe 28 said roast pork with an orange marinade is “a very traditional Cuban dish and is served with Cuban black beans and white rice.” We’ve adapted her recipe to a faster cooking grilled pork tenderloin.
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon each: coarse salt, ground oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
Juice of 2 oranges and 2 limes
1. Mash the garlic, salt, oregano and pepper into a paste with a mortar and pestle or pulse in a food processor. Rub the mixture over pork. Transfer pork to a food storage bag. Add juice; seal. Turn to distribute juice evenly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
2. Prepare grill. Remove tenderloins from refrigerator; discard marinade. Grill pork, turning often, until browned and firm, about 25 minutes for medium doneness. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition information per serving:
116 calories, 36% of calories from fat, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 52 mg cholesterol, 1.5 g carbohydrates, 17 g protein, 326 mg sodium, 0.1 g fiber
