Where does chimichurri sauce come from?

[Flourgirl]

Hello everyone,

I was exploring a food festival recently and someone brought me a sample of a juicy slice of flank steak marinated in something called chimichurri. I asked a couple of people and got different answers as to its origin, some said it's a Venezuelan dish, some said Argentinian, some said Mexican.

Where does this dish come from specifically or are there local variations of it thoughout the Americas?

Also, in my efforts to reproduce the recipe on my own, I've come up with a marinade using the following:
cilantro
garlic
lime juice
oil
maybe salt?

For those of you who know this dish, is there anything you'd add to the marinade that I left out?

Thanks!

 

[GB]

It is Argentinian. Here is my favorite recipe. It goes great with this.

 

[GB]

Here is a little more info.

 

[Gretchen]

I'd go easy on the lime juice--as in not much. Or use red wine vinegar as the touch of acid. I LOVE the stuff. Great as a dipping sauce--and a steak sauce.
Maybe just me and my wonky connection but I get blank windows from GB's links.

 

[Flourgirl]

I was able to get the links to work after a couple trys. Thanks GB, that's a great Wiki article, I love when I learn something new! Gretchen, I obviously left out a lot of ingredients in my "re-creation recipe", I know there was some kind of acid in it, it probably was a vinegar of some sort, red wine you say? I have some, I'll try a little lime and a little red wine vin. Will also add parsely and oregano...

thanks for the quick help!

 

[Gretchen]

know there was some kind of acid in it, it probably was a vinegar of some sort, red wine you say? I have some, I'll try a little lime and a little red wine vin.

No, I was suggesting red wine vinegar instead of citrus juice, but it really doesn't matter. It is pretty overwhelmingly oil and garlic when I have had it in Argentine restaurants. And parsley as a sub for cilantro is what we usually get. I love cilantro though.

 

[GB]

Yes we usually get parsley too, but I am a huge cilantro fan so I like to make it with both.

 

[Flourgirl]

Definitely cilantro! That's such a distinct flavor, I know it was in the one I tried.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Definitely cilantro! That's such a distinct flavor, I know it was in the one I tried.

Yep - chimichurri is Argentinian.
In Mexico you'll find salsa fresca on most tables.
Venezuelans have two popular sauces; one called Guasacaca ( which has a little avocado in it) and the other called "Mojito"

 

[sebie]

Red wine vinegar
lemon juice
olive oil
parsley
cilantro
garlic
red pepper flakes
salt(not too much)
and pepper