Asado a la cruz: history, technique and how to do it | PUCO

Asado a la cruz: fire, time and a deeply Argentine tradition

There are ways of cooking, and there are ways of understanding fire. Asado a la cruz belongs to the second kind.

Long before adjustable grills, thermometers and outdoor kitchens, the Argentine countryside was already cooking large cuts of meat slowly in front of a good flame. An iron stake driven into the ground, firewood, patience and several hours ahead. From that simple cooking, so closely tied to rural life, came one of the most recognisable images of our food culture: meat opened out in front of the fire on a cross, or asador.

Where does asado a la cruz come from?

The tradition developed mainly on the great plains of the Río de la Plata, where, through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, cattle were part of everyday rural life.

The gaucho had no kitchen waiting for him in the middle of the pampa. The fire was the kitchen.

To cook large cuts, people used stakes and frames that held the meat upright in front of the flames. Over time, iron replaced many of those improvised supports, and the characteristic asado cross we know today appeared.

Racks of ribs, lambs and whole cuts could cook slowly for hours, mostly on the heat radiating from the fire.

And that is one of the great differences from a conventional grill.

On the cross, we don't cook over the fire: we cook in front of it.

It sounds like a detail, but it completely changes the way you think about cooking.

How do you make a good asado a la cruz?

There is no need to complicate it. In fact, the simpler the approach, the better.

The first step is to build a generous fire with good firewood. We are not only after embers: we need a steady source of heat that can radiate warmth for several hours.

The cut is fixed wide open on the cross and set at some distance from the fire.

One of the traditional techniques is to start with the bone side facing the heat. The bone copes better with the first stage of cooking and lets the heat reach the meat gradually.

Distance is everything.

If you can't hold your hand for a few seconds between the meat and the fire, you are probably too close. Asado a la cruz is never rushed: we are after a long, gradual and even cook.

Depending on the cut, its size, the wind and the strength of the fire, it can take several hours of cooking.

Then the meat is turned to finish the other side.

There is no perfect clock for it. The real measuring instrument is still the one it has always been: watching the fire, watching the meat and understanding what is happening.

The fire moves too

There is another interesting detail that often goes unnoticed.

In a traditional asado a la cruz, whoever is cooking spends much of the time changing the position of the cut: bringing it closer, moving it away, changing its angle, or turning a frame that can carry several kilos of meat.

And that is where a centuries-old tool can still evolve.

At PUCO we wanted to keep the essence of asado a la cruz intact, while making the asador a far more comfortable way to cook.

Our Cruz 360 turns and rotates, so you can change the position of the meat relative to the fire easily, without lifting or wrestling the whole cut every time you want to change how it cooks.

You can adjust how it takes the heat, turn it to work the other side, and adapt its position as the fire evolves.

The technology is simple.

And that is exactly why it works.

A tradition that doesn't need to stay in the past

We like to think that making tools for cooking with fire is also about this: understanding where they come from, and improving what can be done better without losing their essence.

Because we can change the iron, improve the mechanisms and make cooking more comfortable.

But there are some things we would rather leave exactly as they were.

A good cut of meat.

Burning firewood.

Time.

And people gathered around the fire.

That is still asado a la cruz.

Discover our Cruz 360 in 100% stainless steel for asado, designed and made in Spain for those who still believe that cooking over fire deserves to be done without hurry.