Choripán

A choripán is a grilled chorizo sausage split lengthwise and pressed into crusty bread with a spoonful of chimichurri. It's the sandwich sold at every Argentine parrilla, roadside grill stand and football match — often the first thing off the grill while the rest of an asado still cooks.

What it really is

A fresh pork chorizo grills whole over wood coals until the casing chars and the inside cooks through, then splits open lengthwise — sometimes butterflied before grilling so it cooks faster and picks up more char. It presses into a length of crusty white bread, split but not cut all the way through, and chimichurri — the vinegar, garlic and herb sauce that rides alongside almost everything at an Argentine grill — spoons generously over the sausage before the sandwich closes.

It's eaten as the opener, not the main event. At a proper asado, a choripán or two disappears while the main cuts of beef are still hours from ready — a way to keep everyone fed and the grill's first, fast-cooking food from going to waste.

How it's served

• Hot off the grill, wrapped in a napkin, eaten standing up.
• With chimichurri spooned on generously, sometimes a hot sauce alongside.
• As a starter at a full asado, or a standalone street food snack any time.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the wheat in the bread.
• Say if a spicier sausage or hot sauce option is available alongside the standard chorizo.
• Note that chimichurri, not ketchup or mustard, is the traditional condiment here.