Ignacio Mattos is the chef and co-owner of Estela, a restaurant in New York (47 E Houston St. New York, NY 10012). Ignacio Mattos did a short interview of his native country Uruguay of what is special to eat there. I thought this article was interesting because he is giving his perspective of his country’s food. He first takes us to a barbecue (asado) in Uruguay. It’s very traditional and ceremonial because they use the whole animal by grilling everything and even making sausages, blood sausages, and something called “chinchulines” which is the intestines. I think that is amazing because if an animal is sacrificed, then they should use everything! Then he takes us to a restaurant on the beach called Parador La Huella, which serves grilled seafood and meat. A place in the woods, he would take us to a place called Marismo and over there, they serve everything that was cooked in a wood-fired oven. Imagine the taste! All the tables are in the sand, and that just adds to the scenery and the vibe of the restaurant.
The most interesting part of the article was the street food in Uruguay that Ignacio takes us through. For street food there is something called the “chivito” which seems interesting. It’s a steak sandwich! He says that there are many stands that serve chivito, but they go crazy and serve it with many meats and vegetables and all sorts of things to make the sandwich bigger. He says that it is the true taste of the thin sliced meat and the bread that they serve it in, not how much they stuff that sandwich with. The bigger, the worse! I think that is true. A lot of places these days are serving things in big portions and adding a lot of extra ingredients, but it isn’t about how big the plate is, it is about how it’s truly suppose to taste. Sometimes, simplicity can be the best way to serve certain things.
