The Master of Fire

Francis Mallmann deserves the title of Master of Fire. He has perfected the craft of cooking with fire at his restaurant Siete Fuegos in Mendoza, Argentina. Chef Mallmann has shown the world the powerful simplicity and the deeply flavored foods, of the Argentine asado.

Eating at Siete Fuegos has been on my to-do list for a while. But, I have not made it to Argentina yet. So, I was surprised and excited to learn that Francis Mallmann would be coming to see me instead. Well, not quite... Chef Mallmann was coming to Aspen, Colorado, to cook a dinner at The Little Nell hotel. The hotel was celebrating their 20th Anniversary of receiving the Wine Spectator Grand Award. The dinner was last night and here is the menu.

I heading down to The Little Nell about mid-morning to check out the production. I have been fascinated with asado for a while and I wanted to learn what I could in person. The fact that they cook outside is great for learning because all I had to do was follow the smoke to its source and then I could observe and ask questions. Normally, a world famous chef would be inside a kitchen that you would not have access to. I found Chef Mallmann and his staff set up at the base of Aspen mountain, next to the gondola and in front of Ajax tavern and the Little Nell. It looked as if they had just finished having a breakfast of croissants and Dom Pérignon champagne! nice!

The chef would baste the pineapples with a mixture of water, vinegar, sugar and spices. He told me that the butternut squash would take five hours to cook and that the cabbages and pineapples would take seven hours to cook. That really is low and slow. Below you can see on the left they have their plancha set up. The chef told me that they would cook the salmon in there later that night. He said the salmon takes about 45 minutes to cook. They top off the plancha with a piece of steel that they will heat with fire to create an oven affect. I love how simple their set up is. Cinder blocks and steel, that's incredible! Anyone can manage to make that setup at home.

What a great day watching and learning about Argentine asado. I feel so lucky to be able to watch Chef Mallmann and his team so closely and to be able to ask so many questions. They were so friendly and open with answering questions. I can't wait to go to Argentina and eat at Siete Fuegos.

Thank you for stopping by today.
As always, if you have any questions about this post please ask.
Steve