Papas a la Provenzal
Two ingredients, thrown at hot potatoes the second they come out. That is the entire recipe.
Ask an Argentine which seasoning they use most and the honest answer is not chimichurri and not a grill rub. It is provenzal: chopped garlic and chopped parsley in roughly equal parts, and nothing else. It goes on potatoes, mushrooms, shrimp, bread, and about half of everything that leaves a home kitchen.
It borrowed its name from Provence and belongs entirely to Buenos Aires now, which is a fair description of Argentine food in general.
The timing is the technique
Raw garlic and raw parsley on cold potatoes is a garnish. On potatoes still hissing from the fryer or straight off a sheet pan, the residual heat blooms the garlic — takes the raw bite off, releases the oil, and drives the smell into the food instead of leaving it on top.
The window is about thirty seconds. Have the mix ready in the bowl before the potatoes come out, not after. That is the only thing separating a good papas a la provenzal from potatoes with parsley on them.
How to do it
Fry or roast the potatoes until properly crisp. Wedges, cubes, thin fries — the shape does not matter, the crust does.
Straight from the oil or the oven into a warm bowl. Two tablespoons of the mix per pound, a good splash of olive oil, salt. Toss hard for fifteen seconds while the steam is still coming off. Onto a plate immediately.
Chopping it fresh: equal parts garlic and flat-leaf parsley, both fine, made within an hour of using it. With Provenzal it is two tablespoons per pound, and there is no salt in it, so salt separately and taste.
Where else it goes
Mushrooms, sautéed hard and tossed off the heat. Shrimp, the same way, thirty seconds after they turn. Softened butter mashed with a spoonful of it, spread on split bread and grilled, which is what garlic bread is supposed to taste like. Over grilled provoleta. Into breadcrumbs before a milanesa is fried. Stirred through white beans with good oil.
It is not a marinade and it is not a rub. It goes on at the end, always, on something hot.
An argument for restraint
The temptation with two ingredients is to add a third. Lemon zest, chili, oregano, shallot. Every one of those makes a perfectly good seasoning and none of them make provenzal.
The reason this is the most-used jar in Argentina is that it does one thing and does not compete with whatever else is on the plate. If the meat has been on a fire for four hours, the last thing it needs is a seasoning with opinions.