What Is a Parrilla?

Parrilla is the Spanish word for grill. In Argentina it means the wood-fired grill in the garden, and the restaurant that cooks on one.

Say it paree-sha in Buenos Aires. Say it paree-ya almost anywhere else in the Spanish-speaking world. Argentinians will tell you theirs is correct.

The Grill

A parrilla has a grate that moves up and down over a bed of embers. The fire burns in a brasero, a basket or firebox, and the cook rakes embers under the food.

The grate is often V-shaped. Fat runs into the channels and away from the heat. Our V Grill is inspired by it.

Most Argentinian homes build one into a wall or set it under a chimney. Restaurants run enormous versions with canopies and whole sides of beef.

The Restaurant

Ask for a parrilla in Buenos Aires and someone will point you to a steakhouse. Every neighbourhood has one. You'll smell the embers before you see the grill.

Meat arrives in stages, chorizo first and the big cuts last. Chimichurri sits on the table and nobody hurries.

Parrilla, Asado and Argentinian Grill

The three words overlap.

Parrilla is the grill and the restaurant.
Asado is the meal and the occasion, and sometimes the grill as well.
Argentinian grill is what British and American cooks call the whole idea.

At Somerset Grill Co we use all three. We call the range Asado, and the V Grill is our take on the parrilla grate, made in Somerset.

For Ben, a trip to Canada sealed it. Friends who'd lived in Argentina for ten years cooked Argentine beef over fire, and he knew the idea was worth chasing.