Felicitas Pizarro: from her grandmother's indelible grilling legacy to a 'key role' dispute with her husband

Argentine chef Felicitas Pizarro draws inspiration from her paternal grandmother, who instilled in her a love for grilling and the secrets of a good barbecue. Pizarro has transformed this passion into a 13-year career, currently hosting "Todo sobre la carne" on El Gourmet channel. The program explores not only cooking different cuts of meat but also the entire process from origin to table. Additionally, she appears every Sunday on "La peña de morfi" on Telefe.

Pizarro recounts her family's culinary traditions, noting that her sons, Ramón and Indalecio, are also learning from her. She humorously shares that during Sunday barbecues, she often competes with her husband for the role of grill master. "An Argentine can go without a lawyer or an accountant, but they must have a butcher. And I hope we don't lose that. We still go to the butcher, the greengrocer, the poultry shop, because knowing what we buy and how to choose it is part of our identity," she stated.

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Un argentino puede no tener un abogado o un contador, pero sí un carnicero. Y ojalá no perdamos eso. Todavía vamos a la carnicería, a la verdulería, a la pollería, porque es parte de nuestra identidad saber qué compramos y qué elegir.

While grilling is often seen as a male domain in Argentina, Pizarro embraced it wholeheartedly. She recalled her initial excitement when first approached by El Gourmet in 2013. Despite a suggestion to start in a studio, she insisted on cooking outdoors, and within two weeks, she was grilling over an open fire. Her show, "Todo sobre la carne," delves into the origins of meat, visiting processing plants to understand daily operations and speaking with butchers to highlight the cultural importance of these relationships.

Pizarro explained that the program is structured around specific cuts of meat, dedicating episodes to each. She highlighted "bifes" (steaks) as a specialty, featuring discussions with chefs from renowned restaurants like Don Julio and vendors from local markets. She noted that cuts like "peceto" or "colita" are popular choices for home cooks due to their lower fat content, which makes them easier to prepare without filling the house with smoke.

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Cada corte tiene su versatilidad, su forma de explotar lo mejor. Lo que más compra la gente es peceto o colita porque no tienen mucha grasa, pueden cocinarla de varias formas, no ahúma la casa.