Chimichurri - a quickie

"a herb lover’s dream come true." Gimme some oven

It was a potential sauce for my Webered New York sirloin tomorrow. Another Coles Magazine/Curtis Stone thought. But even though I'm doing the steak I'm not going with the sauce. But it made me realise that it wasn't what I thought, and also that it's another of those in things. Also I was confusing it with peri-perri, (another time).

It's from Argentina and Uruguay and it's name is often said to be a corruption of some English phrase with curry in it, but the more learned opinion seems to be that it's from a very weird looking Basque word that just means a lot of things mixed together. Which is what it is. The Gimme some oven site sums it up:

"Lots of fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus some fresh cilantro, garlic, a little red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil"

A quick look around didn't really say much else. Sometimes the herbs varied - not always any coriander, and sometime they added onions, but basically what it says above is what it is. Lots of parsley seems to be essential. So I guess it's a bit like salsa verde, which has capers instead of chilli and basil instead of coriander. Sort of. The same idea anyway.

I wasn't impressed by the idea of chimichurri because of my confusion with perri-perri which seems to come in bottles, but a fresh herb sauce - yes very possibly. And indeed I shall use it in my mushroom and onion salad à la Curtis Stone, but without the coriander - haven't got any. I do have lots of mint though.