Seeing as it's on Thursday, your England v Uruguay festivities should probably take more of a sophisticated approach rather than the massive blowout you probably had on Saturday. It is a school night after all. Instead of booze, games and decorations, here's some amazing Uruguayan treats to make to munch on while we (erm, hopefully) beat them at football.** **
The Meal
A lot of Uruguayan food has its roots in European cuisine, and pizza and pasta are popular. However, we’re mainly excited by the prospect of a ‘chivito’ – a traditional Uruguayan sandwich consisting of steak, ham and cheese that looks like the stuff foodie dreams are made of. It’s not healthy, but my God it’s delicious. Here’s a recipe from Epicurious.
Ingredients
1 boneless rib steak, 1 pound, sliced horizontally into 4 thin steaks (you can ask the butcher to do this)
Coarse salt
4 sandwich rolls
1/2 cup aioli
Four 1/8-inch-thick slices pancetta
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large eggs
4 slices boiled ham (about 4 ounces)
4 ounces queso blanco or Monterey Jack, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 Boston lettuce leaves
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 roasted Peppers
Method
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Pound the steaks lightly with a meat mallet until they are evenly about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
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Split the rolls and spread aioli on both halves. Set aside.
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Heat a chapa or a two-burner cast-iron griddle over medium-high heat. As it's heating, crisp the pancetta on it, turning once. Set aside. When the chapa is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles on the surface, add the steaks and cook, without moving, for 2 minutes. Turn and cook for another minute, or until done to taste.
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Meanwhile, heat the olive oil until it shimmers, then fry the eggs until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny.
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Place a steak on the bottom half of each of the rolls and top with a slice each of ham, cheese, and crisp pancetta and a fried egg. Cover the other halves with the lettuce, tomatoes, and roasted pepper, and close the sandwiches. Slice in half and serve.
The Snacks
Uruguayans love their sweet food and garmpinadas are perhaps the most excellent of all their creations. Often sold on the street in London, they're basically nuts covered in sugar and vanilla. Yum. We found an excellent recipe from an American lady who loves Uruguay so much she's chosen to retire there.
Ingredients
1 cup Water
2 cups sugar
2 cups roasted peanuts (300 grams or 11 ounces)
2 tsp vanilla
***Method
***1. Mix water and sugar together in a large pan and mix over medium high heat until dissolved. Add peanuts and vanilla. Keep boiling and stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.
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Eventually (after about 10-12 minutes), it will produce a white foam. Then you can take it off the fire and stir vigorously, and the mixture will literally dry up before your eyes. The coating on the peanuts will be white and there will be sugar 'dust' in the bottom of the pan.
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Return to a lower flame and work the peanuts and sugar until it begins to caramelize. When they are a rich brown color (but not burnt), take them off the flame, turn them onto a non-stick surface and make sure they are separated. Voila! You have garrapiñadas.
The Drink
Uruguayans love ‘grappamiel’ which is basically grappa – that stuff you’ll always find at the back of your parents alcohol cupboard layered in several years worth of dust – and honey mixed with various other alcohols which leads us to believe that it's probably quite lethal. Seeing as Thursday’s a school night and we've got work on Friday, instead give grappamiel a wide berth and opt for a honey cocktail instead. The Bumblebee is far less lethal and super-easy to make.
Ingredients
1 ½ parts Bombay Sapphire in
⅓ part honey
⅓ part lemon juice
Method
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Chill your glass (the easiest way is to fill it with ice).
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Put lots of ice and all of the ingredients into a shaker.
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Then shake hard for about 20 seconds to chill the liquid really well.
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Strain the mix into the glass.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.