Grilled South American Beef Tenderloin

When we traveled to South America, we encountered many different and scrumptious cuts of beef. Uruguayans take their beef very seriously. They recently set a Guinness world record, hosting the largest barbeque (a.k.a. parrillada in Spanish).

One of the highlights of our Uruguayan visit was experiencing a full-on parrillada that Marcelo's uncle hosted. I loved how the whole family came together on a moment's notice. It's not very often that you get to have a whole calf served in your honor. Barbeque in Uruguay can be thrown together at any place anytime.

The following picture was taken at the Mercado del Puerto in Montevideo. They were just gearing up for the lunch crowd.

We really enjoyed the following cut of beef tenderloin in Uruguay. It's difficult to find this type of cut here, but it's easy to prepare yourself. Rather than cutting steaks against the grain, they are cut along the grain. This maximizes the amount of surface area that comes into contact with the grill. Once the steaks are cooked, the bite-sized pieces are then cut across the grain, ensuring a very tender piece of meat. Fat always adds great flavor and I found that you're able to keep more on each piece, if desired.

   

It's simple to do and saves you heaps of money to cut your own. Watch Rouxbe's drill-down video to learn how to clean and portion your own tenderloin. Once you trim the tenderloin, just make the cuts as shown above. If your tenderloin is quite large, you can even get this type of cut out of the cap and head.

Served with homemade chimichurri sauce, these grilled steaks are absolutely delicious!

Tagged as: [ beef culinary recipes uruguay ]