Whole beef tenderloin, salt-crusted and slow-roasted on a cross (asador) over coals for 90 minutes. The most tender and most prestigious cut of the parrilla, served at celebrations.
Lomo al asador is the most prestigious preparation of the Argentine parrilla: a whole beef tenderloin, coated in coarse salt, tied to a vertical iron cross (the asador), and slow-roasted over coals for 90 minutes. The cross is planted in the ground at an angle near the fire, the meat cooking by radiant heat from the coals rather than direct flame. The salt crust seasons the meat and forms a protective layer that keeps the interior moist. Sliced thick and served with chimichurri, it is the tenderest cut of the cow, and presenting a whole lomo is a gesture of generosity at a celebration asado. The technique is ancient, predating the grill grate, and the cross is still used for whole-animal roasts in the countryside.
Perfectly tender, pink, salt-crusted beef sliced thick, the exterior lightly charred where the coals reached it, the interior uniformly medium-rare. Each slice is fork-tender, needing only chimichurri. The luxury cut of the asado.
The technique is vertical radiant-heat roasting on a cross. The whole tenderloin is trimmed, coated generously in coarse salt, tied to the iron cross with wire, and the cross planted at an angle near (not over) the coals. The meat cooks by radiant heat from the coals at moderate intensity for 80 to 90 minutes, rotated once halfway through. The moderate, indirect heat ensures even cooking to medium-rare throughout, while the salt crust seasons and protects. The distance from the coals is critical: too close and the outside burns before the inside cooks; too far and it takes too long. The salt crust is cracked off before slicing. No other seasoning is needed.
Variations
Some wrap the lomo in bacon for added fat. A version with a mustard crust is modern.
On the Palate
Where Lomo al Asador sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
5 steps · 15 min
- 14 min
Trim a whole beef tenderloin (about 1.5kg) of silver skin; coat generously in coarse salt.
- 25 min
Tie the lomo to an asador cross or a vertical spit with wire; plant the cross at an angle near a bed of moderate coals.
Watch outSet the cross at an angle near the coals, not over them — the tenderloin cooks by the heat off the embers; too close and the outside burns before the middle warms.
- 38 min
Roast 80 to 90 minutes, rotating the cross once halfway, until the internal temperature is 55 degrees C for medium-rare.
Watch outPull it at 55 in the center for medium-rare — a whole tenderloin overshoots fast, so probe rather than guess.
- 44 min
Rest 10 minutes; crack off the salt crust.
- 54 min
Slice thick; serve with chimichurri.
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