Antonio Gonzaga

During Theodore Roosevelt's 1913 state visit to Argentina, Gonzaga was selected to be head chef for the U.S. president's entourage. By the time the 1916 Argentine Independence Centennial celebrations rolled around, Gonzaga was already a popular name among Buenos Aires aristocratic circles.^[5]

In 1931, he published El cocinero práctico argentino ("The Practical Argentine Cookbook"), credited as the first cookbook in Argentina. The book detailed traditional Argentine cuisine with painstaking effort, chronicling over 300 recipes. Aided by the arrival of gas stoves to the country, the popularity of El cocinero práctico led to him becoming one of the country's most recognizable chefs.^[1][4] His rise in popularity, however, was eventually overshadowed by another famous Argentine cookbook writer, Doña Petrona, who would go on to revolutionize the field by becoming Argentina's first television chef.^[3]

Gonzaga's unabashed focus on traditional Argentine cooking (specifically, that of the gauchos and the rural working class) is credited with popularizing asado in Buenos Aires and among the Argentine upper classes, who until then disdained Argentine traditions and instead favored French cuisine. In particular, the use of achuras such as chorizo and chitterlings, and the steps for preparing the asado, are credited to Gonzaga's recipes in El cocinero práctico.^[1][4][6]

Gonzaga's Afro-Argentine background has also led to speculation regarding the possible African origins of the asado, although consensus has not been reached by historians and researchers. In his books, Gonzaga proclaimed himself a "criollo, son of this country".^[7]

His work as a chef was carried on by his grandson, Horacio Gonzaga, who was the head chef at the Hotel Provincial and the Hotel Hermitage, in Mar del Plata.^[8][9]