Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way - Hardcover

by Francis Mallmann (Author), Peter Kaminsky (With)

James Beard Award Winner

A trailblazing chef reinvents the art of cooking over fire.

Gloriously inspired recipes push the boundaries of live-fired cuisine in this primal yet sophisticated cookbook introducing the incendiary dishes of South America's biggest culinary star. Chef Francis Mallmann--born in Patagonia and trained in France's top restaurants--abandoned the fussy fine dining scene for the more elemental experience of cooking with fire. But his fans followed, including the world's top food journalists and celebrities, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Madonna, and Ralph Lauren, traveling to Argentina and Uruguay to experience the dashing chef's astonishing--and delicious--wood-fired feats.

The seven fires of the title refer to a series of grilling techniques that have been singularly adapted for the home cook. So you can cook Signature Mallmann dishes--like Whole Boneless Ribeye with Chimichuri; Salt-Crusted Striped Bass; Whole Roasted Andean Pumpkin with Mint and Goat Cheese Salad; and desserts such as Dulce de Leche Pancakes--indoors or out in any season. Evocative photographs showcase both the recipes and the exquisite beauty of Mallmann's home turf in Patagonia, Buenos Aires, and rural Uruguay. Seven Fires is a must for any griller ready to explore food's next frontier.

Front Jacket

From first spark to leaping flame to last dying ember, grilling has a new frontier and Francis Mallmann is its trailblazer. He offers more than one hundred recipes, ranging from griddled mussels to a whole salmon that s salt-roasted to juicy perfection, from beautifully burnt tomatoes to crunchy smashed potatoes and lusciously charred oranges, from a butterflied leg of lamb that cooks in just minutes to if you can imagine a whole cow that roasts for fourteen hours! He also shares the secret to perfect steak every single time.
Born in Patagonia, Mallmann grew up in the Andes, in a house where everything from the heating to the hot water to the kitchen stove was sustained by ever-burning fires. As a true prodigy, he trained in the greatest French kitchens and went on to become South America s most venerated chef. But at age forty he had an epiphany. He was, in his words, "tired of making fancy French food for wealthy customers in Buenos Aires." In an audacious move, he abandoned the fussy fine-dining scene to return to his roots and the language he describes in his mother tongue: fire.
Mallmann calls his techniques the Seven Fires and all are represented in this book, with some extras thrown in for good measure. In glorious photographs, Mallmann illustrates technique after technique, from "parrilla" which is cooking on a grill to his boldest method, "asador," in which a butterflied spring lamb or pig is fastened to an iron cross, where it cooks for hours in the glow of live coals.
A TV star in South America, Mallmann is a showman who adores cooking for a crowd he s served presidents, princes, and celebrities as diverse as Madonna and Francis Ford Coppola. "Seven Fires" is filled with food that anyone can prepare with little equipment beyond a heat source whether it s wood, charcoal, or gas fire. Signature dishes include Smashed Patagonian Lamb with Lemon Confit and Herbs; Salt-Baked Striped Bass; Boneless Pork Chops with Honey Gremolata; and Whole Andean Pumpkin Salad with Mint, Arugula, and Goat Cheese as well as a surefire recipe for the perfect steak. And because we can t always cook outdoors year-round, indoor variations are given for nearly all the recipes.
With evocative photos that showcase Mallmann s food and the exquisite beauty of his home turf, "Seven Fires" will thrill grillers ready to explore the magic of fire, fine food s next frontier.

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Author Biography

Francis Mallmann, author of Seven Fires and Mallmann on Fire, is the reigning star of food television in the Spanish-speaking world, and the most famous and popular chef in South America. His restaurants include Siete Fuegos at the Vines Resort & Spa in Argentina's wine country; Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires; El Garzón in Uruguay; 1884 Restaurante in Mendoza, Argentina (named one of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants); and Los Fuegos in Miami. USA Today and the Times (London) have named his restaurants among the top 10 places to eat in the world. Most recently, Mallmann was the subject of the Netflix documentary series Chef's Table.
Peter Kaminsky is the author and coauthor of many books, including Pig Perfect, Culinary Intelligence, and Green Fire, Seven Fires, and Mallmann on Fire (with Francis Mallmann). He is a longtime contributor to Food & Wine and a former columnist for the New York Times and New York magazine. He was managing editor of National Lampoon. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.