BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – Blood stains the white apron covering Javier Aleman’s body as he carries giant slabs of beef hanging from a hook out of the walk-in refrigerator at his butcher shop.
Aleman is the owner of a butcher shop located just three blocks from the seat of the national government in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital. He sells meat for eight hours to 20 hours a day with little rest.
The line of customers grows longer around noon and as evening falls because it is customary to eat meat for lunch and dinner. Sometimes, so many customers accumulate in Aleman’s shop that he stays open until 10 p.m.
“The Argentine eats a lot of meat,” says Aleman, who typically sells four cows a week. “Here, there are three butcher shops every two blocks.”
Aleman deposits a piece of meat on the counter. While he sinks his knife into it, he chats with customers about politics, the economy and the weather. The butcher shop looks like a bar where a group of friends have gathered to chat.
Everyone calls Aleman “El Salteño,” alluding to his birthplace in the northwestern province of Salta. A neighbor passes by on the sidewalk and yells: “Hey! Salteño, how are you?”
“Incredible!” answers Aleman, still moving his knife while never ceasing to smile.
Aleman says he loves this job, which he has been doing his whole life, and cannot imagine doing anything else. He says that he is more than a butcher. He knows his clients, their preferences and even the intimacies of many of their home lives.
“Being a butcher leads you to know behind the curtains of the homes of your customers,” he says. “You find out whom they love more, on what holiday they get together more, what birthday congregates more family members.”
Red meat is part of the daily diet of Argentines and occupies a central role in family gatherings and social events. Argentines spend about 10 percent of their salaries on red meat. Although international studies increasingly link red meat to cancer and heart disease, local experts highlight the nutritional value of lean meat in moderation.
A 2012 study by the Harvard School of Public Health associated the consumption of red meat with an increased risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular diseases. One daily serving of unprocessed red meat corresponded with a 13-percent increase in the risk of mortality, and one daily serving of processed red meat corresponded with a 20-percent increased risk.
In Argentina, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are the No. 1 and No. 2 leading causes of death, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Argentina has the second-highest rate of cancer in Latin America and ranks 46th in the world, according to rankings by World Cancer Research Fund International based on 2008 information from the World Health Organization.
But red meat continues to play a central role in Argentine culture and family life.
The average annual consumption of red meat per person in Argentina in 2012 was 60 kilograms (130 pounds), according to the Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina, a public institution founded by members of the industry.
Aleman says his family eats almost 4 pounds of red meat per day.
“In my house, a lot of red meat is eaten,” says Aleman, a father of two children, 8 and 13. “My kids, my wife and I eat a lot of meat, almost 2 kilograms of meat per day.”
For lunch, he eats beef tenderloin, a hamburger or a “milanesa” sandwich, which comprises a breaded cutlet of finely cut beef. Dinner is usually milanesa or steak.
The consumption of meat increases on the weekends, when Argentines gather to eat “asado,” or barbecue, Aleman says. They cook different cuts of meat on the grill as well as other meat products, including chorizo and blood sausage, and different parts of the cow, such as the intestines.
Asados in Argentina are synonymous with gatherings of family and friends. In important social events, it is common to barbecue ribs on the grill.
Luis Soto is a griller at the Los Alerces event center. He wears a leather protector that covers his chest to shield him from the fire. Handling knives and a long-handled fork, he is grilling for more than 200 people.
“The Argentine always prefers red meat,” Soto says. “In an event of 100 people, about five racks of 8 to 10 kilograms each are barbecued, and everyone eats with an appetite. If they have the possibility of eating two portions, they do it.”
Carlos Bravo is a doorman for a residential building. He says that on the weekends, you can smell grilled meat all over the building.
“On the three patios below, there are grills,” he says. “On the 10th floor, there are two grills.”
There is an additional one on the terrace.
“The younger people usually use that one because it has the capacity for a lot of meat,” he says. “And when they get together to eat asado, they eat a lot and leave with trash bags with wine bottles and bones.”
Alberto Argañaraz, 85, says he has eaten red meat his entire life. He recounts how when he was young, his family purchased asado already cooked from the neighborhood bakery.
“When I was a boy of about 9 years old, I remember that I used to go with my father to the bakery to look for the asado that the baker used to make in the oven,” Argañaraz says, “and incidentally we bought the bread there, too. We sat down, and my mother gave out a piece for each of us. My uncles, cousins and even neighbors came.”
Argañaraz says that as an adult, the asado served as a party for co-workers.
“We used to get together with our co-workers, and we used to do an asado on some corner,” he says. “Occasionally, someone had to run to turn the ribs, and we used to stop at 1 in the afternoon to eat that meat.”
Now, as a grandfather, he says he enjoys when his grandson puts asado on his plate already cooked.
“About a month ago, we went to the house of my grandson,” he says. "My grandson took a portion of asado, cut it into smaller pieces, put it on my plate and told me: ‘Eat this, Grandpa. You are going to like it.’”
Argentines spend, on average, about 10 percent of their salaries on red meat, based on available data regarding earnings and consumption.
A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of lean meat, an expensive cut without fat, costs about 90 pesos ($17). A cheaper cut, which has more fat and nerves, costs about 35 pesos ($6).
The 2013 minimum salary in Argentina is 2,875 pesos ($550) a month, according to a database managed by the Centro de Estudios de la Nueva Economía in the Universidad de Belgrano.
Aleman says meat sales are higher during the first 20 days of the month because salaried workers receive their pay during those dates.
“Around the 20th of each month, you notice a decline in consumption,” Aleman says. "But from the 1st to the 20th, meat is eaten every day.”
Aleman also says some customers buy expensive cuts, while those who cannot afford them opt for the cheaper cuts. In general, his customers prefer the cut for milanesas.
“I know my customers and what cuts they take,” he says.
Although new studies warn of the link between consumption of red meat and cancer and cardiovascular diseases, Argentines’ consumption is on par with the intake that local doctors recommend.
Dr. Claudia Margarita Valenti, who specializes in nutrition, says people can eat red meat every day. But she advises they stick to the recommended intake of 50 grams (1.8 ounces) to 200 grams (7 ounces) per day, depending on the person’s age and physical conditions.
Valenti also advises people to consume lean meat. Excessive consumption of fatty cuts or products derived from meat such as hamburgers or sausages can cause increased bad cholesterol, uric acid and cardiovascular diseases, among other health issues.
Valenti highlights the high protein value of lean red meat in moderation.
“Meats provide protein of high biological value,” she says. “They are easily absorbable and contain all the essential amino acids that the body does not produce. Also, they are rich in iron and B vitamins.”
Interviews were translated from Spanish.
