Lighting a Grill Volcano Style, Carne Huachalomo, Pebre and Sandia Sour

Freddy

I was visiting my best friend Dave in Santiago, Chili and had the honor of being invited to a traditional Chilean cookout.  Freddy, my buddy’s neighbor, became excited when he heard that a BBQ enthusiast from America was coming to visit and eagerly insisted on hosting a traditional Chilean “BBQ.”  Despite my 30+ years as an avid grills-man, this event proved to be a delicious learning experience.

Chile has a Latin agriculture culture with a European influence.  Fruit trees are everywhere and a fresh fruit is a staple in Chilean cuisine.  As a result hardwood for cooking is abundant.  Nonetheless grilling with “Carbon” (lump charcoal) is preferred over “Leña” (hardwood).  Carbon is available everywhere from supermarkets to roadside vendors.  Slow burning charcoal briquettes are unheard of.

Although I often chide Dave for grilling with gas, I am secretly a little envious on how easily he can get his grill hot and ready, particularly when entertaining.   For this get-together Dave and his wife Megan, are using his gas grill to cook up a slew of vegetables freshly harvested from their large back yard. 

Meg's Caramel Onions - Click for Recipe

   

To pre-season his cooking surface Dave cooks up a few slices of Tocino (bacon) before adding a chopped onion.  Once cooked, he puts the bacon and onion aside while he puts the zucchini and tomatoes on.   Once they are cooked, he uses the bacon and onion as a topping for the roasted tomatoes.  Meanwhile Megan brings out her signature caramelized onions to keep warm on the grill.

Meanwhile next-door, Freddy is preparing to light his grill.   He uses a typical half-barrel type grill that has a large cooking area, but no cover.  He has the grate off, an empty wine bottle standing in the middle of the grill, and a small stack of newspaper pages ripped in half. 

One-by-one Freddy folds and twists each page length-wise into a ¾” ribbon and ties it around the bottle.  He places the bottle with five of these tied paper ribbons into the middle of the grill and proceeds to pour a pile of Carbon over it, forming a conical pile with the top of the bottle peeping out in the middle. 

Then he very carefully pulls the bottle straight up and out of the pile, leaving a perfect newspaper-lined cylinder in the middle of the pile.  He twists up the last sheet of newspaper into a long wand and lights it with a match before dropping it in the hole. 

Freddy explains that is lighting a fire this way is the 'Volcano' method.  Once the paper has burned off and some of the coals have a healthy glow, he starts fanning the fire with a piece of cardboard.  While not necessary he says, it does help the fire to be ready sooner.

While the coals are lighting, Freddy’s wife  Marella brings out a pitcher of Sandia Sour,  a refreshing drink made from watermelon, orange, ice, and Pisco (a Chilean brandy)

With the coals fully ignited and spread evenly, Freddy places the grate onto the grill and goes inside his house.  He comes out a minute later holding a baggie of frozen onion chunks and tosses them out onto the hot grate.  Using tongs, he cleans the grate by rubbing the frozen onion all over it.  As he scrubs the hot grate with the frozen onion Freddy explains that this not only cleans, but sort of ‘pre-seasons’ the grate with a little onion flavor.`

     First onto the grill are “Longaniza” a sort of chorizo style Chilean sausage followed by chicken pieces par-boiled in broth. He also has carne huachalomo  a whole beef tenderloin that he will put on after the chicken cooks a little longer.  Once they are cooked, Freddy starts serving the Longaniza As an appetizer on bread rolls, topping them Pebre, a Chilean salsa/relish. Meanwhile he is continuously turning the chicken pieces.

Most people know Pebre by its Mexican name Pico de Gallo, but that term is very offensive in the Chilean dialect of Spanish and not used, even in jest.

While we are enjoying the sausages, Freddy puts the carne huachalomo on the grill and starts to sear it on all sides.  As he sears it, he generously salts it and the chicken using very coarse salt.  He explains that his keeps the meat juicy while cooking.   Once all sides are seared, he splits the roast lengthwise down the middle with a sharp knife and then places the cut sides on the grate.   As those sides sear, Freddy further cuts the split roast into individual steaks continuing to cook them until they are done and ready to serve.

What I found interesting is that Freddy was able to cook larger, thicker meats that normally need to be cooked with covered, indirect heat by only using an open, direct heat source.  By continuously turning and cutting the meat to size during cooking he put a wonderfully delicious dinner on the table right alongside all the exquisite vegetables that Dave cooked on his gas grill ;-).

Two days earlier I had the pleasure of cooking KA-Ranch style for Dave and Freddy’s family.  See that blog here.