Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way

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.

Winner of the 2010 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Photography

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.

The New York Times - Christine Muhlke

Mallmann cooks with the elegant purity achieved only after attaining a mastery of complicated food…What makes Mallmann so punk is that he makes six ingredients taste better than 20…He also reconnects us to the primal simplicity and visceral pleasure of cooking over a fire—though his recipes can be made over charcoal or in a grill pan, too.

Francis Mallmann is the most famous and popular chef in South America. He has three restaurants: one in Mendoza, Argentina's wine country, another in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and the third in the picturesque village of Garzon, Uruguay. USA Today and The Times of London have named his restaurants among the top ten places to eat in the world. He spends whatever free time he has in a remote cabin retreat in deep Patagonia where he cooks over live fire and writes and reads poetry.

Peter Kaminsky is a cookbook author and a New York Times columnist, and was the Underground Gourmet for New York magazine. He has written books with chefs Gray Kunz, Daniel Boulud, and Fabio Trabocchi. He lives in New York City.