World Cuisine: interesting food stories from around the world

Oct 10
07:58

2011

John M Arthur

John M Arthur

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Learn all about the yummy chimichurri recipe and try it at your home!

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If one was to ask about Argentinean food then they would be told that Argentina is the home of the chimichurri recipe. There are some places around the world that are noted for their food; for example Italy is known as the home of Pizza while people associate pineapples with Hawaii,World Cuisine: interesting food stories from around the world Articles but chimichurri is Argentina’s food export to the world. The standard chimichurri recipe involves different amounts of garlic and parsley with spices, lemon, and occasionally tomato, but it is the garlic that is the heard of the sauce. It is usually used on beef and fish but it is also a great marinade for chicken and prawns. Like most well-known cuisines, the exact birthplace of the chimichurri recipe is hard to pin down, but there is much greater debate over the name. Some people say that the sauce was invented by an Irishman named Jimmy McCurry during the revolution of the early 1800’s. The story goes that McCurry was a great supporter of General Belgrano and he not only fought alongside the General and he also cooked for them, and thus the first chimichurri recipe was ever made. Jimmy McCurry is a hard name for the native Spanish tongue so the locals called him chimichurri and the name was transferred over to the dish. Another story states that an English meat importer either named Jimmy Curry or James C Hurray having invented the popular sauce. However, the most likely invention of the chimichurri is told by the chef Miguel Brasco. He claims that the word chimichurri is the corruption of the phrase “che mi curry” which translated to give me curry. It was most likely used during the period in history when the English were captured after trying to invade Argentina. The prisoners said “che mi curry” when they wanted a sauce for their food and over time the phrase was used as the name of the sauce invented there. It is a very versatile sauce that can also be used as a marinade but is most often used as a beef sauce. So the next time you have a barbeque why not make it an Asado (Argentinean barbeque where beef, chicken, and fish are cooked side by side) and serve some chimichurri sauce. The chimichurri recipe can be created in many different ways and there are recipes all over the internet to help you to create one that you and your family and friends will love.