Chef Govind Armstrong talks about the strangest things he’s ever grilled

Once I ask Chef Govind Armstrong concerning the strangest issues he is ever grilled, he does not miss a factor: Brazilian clams, Amazonian caterpillars, beaver tails. “In Tierra del Fuego, the southern a part of Argentina close to Antarctica, we had a beaver tail,” Armstrong tells InsideHook. “It was wild, and actually good and cheerful. We spent all day sledding the canines, after which we roasted them and made tartare with them too. They had been agency and unusually gentle, too.”

Simply earlier than our interview, Armstrong had simply completed giving an illustration at Alisal Ranch’s annual barbecue coaching camp, the place his lesson lined an genuine hen recipe and a recipe for grilled oxtail—each extra palatable to American diners than beaver tail. As certainly one of Los Angeles’ most celebrated cooks, recognized for coaching from a younger age beneath such greats as Wolfgang Puck and Nancy Silverton, Armstrong put Baldwin Hills establishment Put up & Beam on the map, and is now specializing in seafood at his present gig at The Lobster, the place he presently serves as government chef Government and Operations Supervisor.

However his fascination with worldwide delicacies stems from an upbringing that spanned Los Angeles and Costa Rica, and Caribbean influences stay a part of his model to today. “In Costa Rica, barbecue is extra of a social factor, which I like,” he says. “We simply hang around and eat and drink and sing and dance — every thing. And that is all a part of cooking and feeding us. And in some ways, that is additionally a part of what introduced him again to Alisal for a fifth time as visitor chef, serving to to show keen contributors that barbecue is one thing everybody can do.” Greater than it might sound.

“That is my second barbecue boot camp, and I’ve accomplished different pop-ups right here, and it has been actually enjoyable,” he says. “The persons are nice and like to eat and drink – that is the sort of individuals for me. It is all the time an important group of fascinating individuals who wish to be taught. I believe opening individuals’s eyes to completely different methods and completely different cuts of meat is necessary. The extra I can expose this stuff to extra individuals.” of individuals, or simply give them a special style, the higher.

As a chef, spending time in locations like Argentina, the place barbecue is virtually a lifestyle, and Brazil — the place he encountered one other unusual creature of barbecue — is a part of strengthening his personal strategy. “I cooked and grilled this unusual mollusk in Brazil,” he recollects. “They’re molluscs known as toro – taken from decaying evergreen bushes that decompose underwater in swamps. They’re lengthy and prickly, and the locals I used to be with ate them uncooked. We grilled them, and so they had been candy and flavorful like mussels, not chewy in any respect.”

And in his newest entry within the strangest recreation of barbecue, one other go to to South America yielded an insect for dinner. “I’ve roasted Syrian fry within the Amazon,” he says. “They’re within the aguaji tree. That was actually good – very creamy and really wealthy. They jogged my memory of candy bread.” As a result of most Individuals would by no means be satisfied to eat swamp slugs, beaver rice, or the bugs that stored Timon and Pumbaa alive in… the king lionArmstrong agreed to share his recipe for grilled oxtail as a substitute.

Oxtail remains to be a uncommon lower in comparison with an everyday steak or burger, nevertheless it’s decadent and simply as satisfying. “Oxtail is a singular lower that you do not see over-grilled,” he says. “The one method I’ve had success with it’s to dry rub it, smoke it, sluggish cook dinner it after which hold attempting to get that final layer of taste on it on the grill. Normally, I roast it on a mattress of curry leaves after which roll it backwards and forwards, which is sort of charred. Even the charred curry leaves It has a singular taste that pairs properly with dry rub.

Try his recipe under, and bear in mind: This isn’t a recipe for rookies. You’ll be able to all the time head to Put up & Beam to order an oxtail sandwich for those who’d reasonably go away it to the specialists.

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