Argentinian Catering

Argentinian catering splits in two, and ordering the wrong half is the usual mistake.

The everyday order is empanadas. Each arrives sealed in its own pastry, holds heat for an hour, and needs no plate or fork. Most kitchens bake them, so the tray arrives crisp, not greasy. The empanada is Argentina’s answer to the boxed lunch.

The asado is the other order, cooked on a parrilla, a grill of iron bars over coals. It is slow on purpose, an occasion before it is a meal.

Book empanadas for a working lunch, the parrilla for what you are celebrating. An empanada spread with salads runs $12 to $20 a head. A delivered parrilla sits with the other grill orders, $18 to $30.

Order by filling and by count. The catering set runs beef, chicken, ham and cheese, spinach and cheese, and often humita, sweet corn. Kitchens sell packs of 24 or 48, so a headcount rounds up to the next pack.

Two each is a snack, three is lunch, four when nothing else arrives.

Traditionally the crimp along the edge, the repulgue, tells you what is inside. It is an elegant system that no office has ever decoded, so ask for a labeled tray.

The pastry is rich, so put something sharp beside it: a leaf salad, tomato and onion.

Skirt steak, entraña, is the cut Argentina is known for, thin and quick over the fire. Short ribs cut across the bone, asado de tira, take far longer. Then chorizo, and morcilla, a blood sausage half the room will love and half will not touch. Label that one.

Chimichurri is the only sauce, and that is the entire condiment plan. It is mostly parsley, then garlic, oregano, vinegar and oil, with red pepper flakes at most. The work it does is cutting fat, not adding heat.

Someone has to carve the meat and hand it out, so settle that before you book. One Bay Area caterer grills Argentine cuts in front of guests, which makes the cooking the entertainment.

Start honest: this is a beef cuisine, and a vegetarian does better at an Indian or Mediterranean lunch. Give the caterer a meatless count, because the default order will not include one.

What holds up:

• Provoleta, a disc of provolone grilled until it blisters and pulls.
• Empanadas de verdura, spinach or chard with cheese, on their own tray.
• Peppers, zucchini and whole onions cooked alongside the meat, under chimichurri.

Vegans are harder, since cheese carries the load. Ask for a bean or lentil dish.

Brazilian churrasco is the other South American grill and runs on different rules, so Brazilian catering covers it. CaterAi quotes either half once it knows the guest count and how many plates skip the beef. Other catering cuisines for an office order sit one click away.