xecutive Chef Eduardo “Lalo” Saavedra has created a menu for each “destination dinner” that highlights cultural roots in food techniques. On December 13th, he turned Charlie Palmer Steak Las Vegas into a churrascaria. On the menu were all the culinary delights one would expect to find in Argentina, a country with a rich history of cattle ranching.

Think back to your history lessons about the cowboys of the Wild West and those long cattle drives that inspired iconic John Wayne movies. It was also a scene in the Pampa region of Argentina, the fertile lowlands where huge herds of wild cattle roamed until about the middle of the 1800s. There, gauchos—or colorful cowboys—developed a love of roasted meats, especially beef, called asado.

The beef would be roasted very close to a slow-burning fire on a skewered metal structure called an asador. The wood was from the quebracho tree, which doesn’t produce a lot of smoke and adds rich flavor to the meat. Asado or churrasco can be most easily compared to the American barbeque experience.

Churrasco is also characterized by a sauce called chimichurri served with the meat, not on it as a marinade. This simple, flavorful sauce is typically made of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, and white vinegar. These bright, acidic, and herbaceous flavors help balance the smokiness of the grilled meat.

With a menu typical of a churrascaria, Saavedra prepared bone-in New York steak, skirt steak, chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage), and chimichurri sauce while carefully considering those cherished traditional methods and techniques.