Let’s Talk Food Part One

Recipe Ingredients: Lamb and Salt

After a day of adventure, it was time for a day of food. Locally sourced, fresh, and regional if you please. We applied the Moe theory (How our good friend Carl finds his places to eat) to one choice and we used TripAdvisor for the other. For the Moe theory, we spoke with Luis at the front desk where we were staying. He arranged for us to go to lunch at the Estancia Puerto Consuela. At first, we thought an estancia was a ranch, but after a little more investigation, figured out means station. In Patagonia, that means sheep. So the Estancia Consuela was a sheep station.

This particular station was located on the water and appeared to have been a major exporter of sheep and wool in it’s heyday, Still active as a ranch, they also work with the tour boats to provide a fresh feast of lamb BBQ. Hung on racks that have a spike on the bottom, they are inserted into the ground and tilted forward. Here they slow roast under the guidance of the grill master. He manages the coals to keep an optimum temperature, occasionally placing some wood embers closer to a rack when he feels it needs a bit more intensity. For the final act by the fire, there’s a bit of a show as he breaks out the 5# cleaver and deftly chops the meat into a selection of ribs and blades.

Once inside, there’s a nice table set with super fresh pico de gallo, salad vegetables, boiled potatoes, red Carmenere wine, and the star of the show. This is really an all you can eat proposition. You must insist that you are full. For us, that did take a couple of rounds. Not only was our lunch exceptional, it was simply prepared and captured the tradition of Patagonia’s rich history of the Estancia and the BBQ without any silliness.