AL FRESCO: The road stretched for miles. In the distance, Aconcagu loomed beautifully in the bright blue sky, graced with sun and dusted with snow. To left and right the scrubland appeared equally vast and full of nothingness. We were in Argentina, heading to Salta in search of more meat and Malbec, writes Hugo Arnold
The Argentinians are inclined to light a fire at the slightest encouragement. For them this is cooking asado, a practice made famous by the gauchos. They used to herd cattle and export the skins for leather. The meat from the animal was initially a by-product. Not for them the neat box of ready-to-light charcoal from a petrol station. They prefer a few well-seasoned logs, a few well-seasoned steaks and a little salad for light relief.
On our trip we ate extraordinarily good beef, well marbled with yellow rather than white fat. It had generally been aged to a far-from-rosy red. We could learn a thing or two from this, given our propensity to under-hang meat and not specify the essential fat distribution.
Cooking on open fires needs a little practice, but it is hardly complicated. It is necessary to allow the fire to burn down, and essential to have a sufficient quantity of material to generate heat. All charcoal does is condense these two parameters into a manageable bag. Those lumps were once wood anyway, and often what you want is gentle rather than intense heat. Burnt burgers anyone?
Some woods burn better than others, and a little coal can be used to good effect. Turf delivers plenty of flavour in its smoke, but is limp in the heat stakes. Allow time for your fire to burn. Scrape the hot ashes into a pile at the side of the fire and then put a rack over the top. A tray from the oven and a couple of bricks should have you sorted. If the experience gets the thumbs-up, you can buy racks with suitable legs, or get a blacksmith - yes, they do still exist - to make one.
My enthusiasm for cooking on open fires does not mean I am averse to barbecues. Indeed I cook on mine virtually every other night from now till the end of summer. But there is something deliciously raw about an open fire. There is the chance to sit back and watch the dying embers as you sip some gutsy red wine and are reminded about the joys of the simple things in life.