Ingredients
Cured meats
- 200 gsalame de Tandil or salamin picado fino, sliced 2 mm
- 150 gmortadela, thickly cut into cubes
- 100 gbondiola or jamon crudo, sliced thin
- 100 gcooked ham, cut into cubes
Cheeses
- 200 gqueso Mar del Plata or Pategras, cubed
- 150 gReggianito, broken into shards
- 150 gqueso cremoso, cubed
- 100 gblue cheese, optional
Pickles and preserves
- 150 ggreen olives in brine and 100 g black olives
- 200 gberenjenas en escabeche (aubergine in oil, vinegar and garlic)
- 100 gpickled onions and gherkins
- 1small jar of roasted red peppers
Dry and crisp
- 200 gpalitos salados (salted bread sticks)
- 200 gpapas fritas from a packet
- 150 gsalted peanuts
- 1baguette or 300 g galletitas de agua (water crackers)
To drink
- chilled vermouth with soda, Fernet with cola, or very cold litre bottles of lager
Directions
- Take every cheese out of the fridge 30 to 40 minutes before serving; cold cheese in a picada tastes of nothing and squeaks.
- Slice the salami thin on a mandoline or with a very sharp knife, at a slight angle, and fan it in overlapping rows so the slices are easy to lift with fingers.
- Cut the semi-hard cheeses and the mortadela into 2 cm cubes and spear them in pairs with cocktail sticks, which is how it is done in a Buenos Aires bar.
- Drain the aubergine escabeche of excess oil and put it in a small bowl with a spoon, keeping wet items off the crackers.
- Build the board in zones rather than mixing: meats together, cheeses together, pickles in bowls, dry things filling the gaps. Height and overlap matter more than symmetry.
- Add the crisps and bread sticks last, at the moment the board goes down, so they stay crunchy.
- Set out small plates, plenty of cocktail sticks and a bin bowl for olive stones, and serve everything at once rather than in courses.
- Pour the drinks and let people graze for an hour or more; a picada is the prelude to dinner, not a meal, and should stop just short of filling anyone up.
Technique
- A picada is defined by the ritual, not by a recipe: it is what appears when friends turn up before dinner, and the fixed elements are cured sausage, cheese, olives and something salty from a packet. Deli quality decides the result far more than arrangement.
- Quantities work out at roughly 150 g of solid food and a handful of dry snacks per person if dinner follows, doubled if it does not.
- Vermouth or Fernet with cola is the standard drink. Wine is served, but the picada belongs to the aperitif hour that Argentines call the previa.
Substitutions
- No Argentine salami: any coarse-cut, garlicky dry sausage such as Spanish salchichon or a Genoa salami sits in the same place on the board.
Variations
- Picada caliente adds hot items: empanaditas, fried provolone, mini milanesas and chorizo cut into coins.
- In Mendoza it is common to include tomato and garlic bruschetta and a bowl of olive oil from the province.
History
An Italian and Spanish immigrant habit of Buenos Aires bars, eaten in the early evening with vermouth or beer.
Frequently asked questions
What is Picada?
Picada is a snack from Argentina: board of salami, cheese, olives and crisps shared before dinner. An Italian and Spanish immigrant habit of Buenos Aires bars, eaten in the early evening with vermouth or beer.
How long does Picada take to make?
Picada takes 25 min of preparation and no cooking, 30 min to bring cheeses to room temperature of cooking. The recipe makes board for 6 people with drinks. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Picada?
Yes, within limits. No Argentine salami: any coarse-cut, garlicky dry sausage such as Spanish salchichon or a Genoa salami sits in the same place on the board.
What is the most important thing to get right in Picada?
Build the board in zones rather than mixing: meats together, cheeses together, pickles in bowls, dry things filling the gaps. Height and overlap matter more than symmetry.
