A Bit of Bully

Day 20-23: Western Uruguay, Uruguay. “It's the spinal column”, I said confidently as I pushed the gristly piece of meat around my plate with a fork. “Perhaps it's the umbilical cord”, Karen suggested in response”. “Or maybe the small intestine?”. We continued the debate well into the long summer evening. Dinner and a bovine biology quiz – now that's what I call a good night out!

Our travels through the Corrientes Province of North East Argentina had taken us close to the Uruguayan border. The overnight bus down to Concordia and then the little hop across to Salto meant that we could spend a few of days exploring one of South America's smallest countries before continuing our southbound quest through Argentina.

Heading down from Salto to the River Plate, the environment seemed a little greener, a touch cooler and a little less harsh than our experiences of Uruguay’s gigantic neighbour. But never-the-less, just as in Argentina, the land here is used predominately for the rearing of cattle. And just in case for some bizarre reason you were still left wondering what drives the local economy, the fact that our travels took us through the town called Fray Bentos would tell you without doubt that we were in the heart of prime beef country.

Meandering along the Rio de la Plata, taking in the laid back capital of Montevideo and the delightfully enchanting fishing port of Colonia Del Sacramento with their colonial buildings and European architecture, I had to keep reminding myself that we were in South America and not in Seville – the only give-away; the fact that it wasn't La Liga but the Uruguayan Primera División that blared from every TV of every shop, bar or café that we went into. And it was this knowledge of the Uruguayan's obsessive passion for football that allowed us to win over their hearts. Throw away your copy of Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, if you want to be top-dog in Montevideo just utter those three little words: Liverpool, Diego & Forlán and you will be best buddies with complete strangers in a matter of minutes.

And it was just one of those “friendships” that had brought us here, to the El Pelegrino Restaurant in the fabulous Mercado del Puerto close to the docks in Montevideo city. With Uruguay’s thriving beef industry you'd expect them to produce some great steaks but the locals told us the best way to appreciate the true quality of their nations beef was to try a Parrilla. If you'd like to try one at home, the recipe's quite straightforward:

1. Take one cow and cut into small pieces.
2. Cook the bits over a slow burning wood stove for a couple of hours.
3. Season and garnish with half a chicken.
4. Serve in an enormous bucket.

And that's it. You get the cow, the whole cow and nothing but the cow (except the chicken garnish of course!). Along with the most divine steak and ribs, the bucket contains blood sausage, kidneys, heart, ear, throat, stomach, intestines and countless other things that we just couldn't even recognise.

And did we enjoy our Parrilla I hear you say? Well, let's just say it was a excellent meal experience and leave it at that shall we!