Uruguayan Chivito
Ingredients
• 1 roll (white bread)
• 1 fried egg
• 4 slices of bacon
• flat beef steak
• 1 tomato, sliced
Cut
• 1 crisp lettuce leaf
• 1 slice of cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper
preparation
The history:
Anyone travelling in Uruguay will sooner or later come across the national dish Chivito, the Uruguayan answer to fast food. Legend has it that Chivito was invented in the 1940s by Antonio Carbonaro in the restaurant "El Mejillón", which means something like small mussel, in Punta del Este. Under the motto "necessity is the mother of invention", Antonio served this sandwich to a guest for the first time when there was a power outage and the goat meat that was usually served was sold out. The grill was still working and so he created the Chivito - the "little kid", repackaged from sliced bread, a thin slice of beef, cheese and salad...
That's how it works:
In the "común", the somewhat simpler version, a sweet white bread or roll is used, as is also known from the USA. Mayonnaise is placed on the bottom slice, then a slice of cheese, then a crispy lettuce leaf and a few tomato slices. A freshly grilled or fried ribeye is placed on top, crowned with fried bacon and a fried egg. If you prefer something a little more lavish - more "completo", then put a slice of cooked ham on the fried egg and finish it off with a chimichurri sauce before the toasted top of the roll crowns the chivito.
But the same applies to Chivito: whatever you like is allowed, and in Uruguay too you will come across a wide variety of versions that often cause passionate discussions.
FIRE&FOOD Issue 2-2017
