Apology of the matambre

Apología del matambre is a short text by Esteban Echeverría. It is a painting of customs, of romantic genre, written in 1837. The text, written in the first person, relates the excellence of beef. So traditional in Argentina.
Matambre is a type of cut of meat.
Described in Apología del matambre as the most sublime of delicacies, it is tender when it comes from a steer and has a more resistant texture when it comes from a brave bull. More than a delicacy, Echeverría constructs a metaphor that refers to the Argentine flavor in existential terms. He also contrasts the aforementioned delicacy with the flavors of Spain and proudly proclaims that he and his compatriots:
Accustomed since childhood to see it walk from mouth to mouth, to suck it when it is a, to taste it when they grow up, to crumble it and swallow it when adults, we know who it is, what are its nutritious virtues and the brilliant role it represents on our tables.
The identity elements that appear in the text are interesting. In Apology of the Matambre the flesh not only “kills hunger”, but unfolds the vicissitudes of a lifestyle and a young sensuality, like the homeland in which it was born.
Esteban Echeverría was born in Buenos Aires, Viceroyalty of the Río de La Plata. Argentine writer and poet, recognized as the “founder” of Argentine literature with his story El matadero. He introduced Romanticism with the so-called generation of ’37. He is the author of works such as Dogma Socialista, La Cautiva and Apología del matambre, among others.