Gaucho culture

{{Short description | Cultural traditions of the South American gauchos}}

File:Los gauchos.jpg.]]

File:Ignacio Manzoni - El asado.jpg is considered a national dish,{{cite web |url=http://viaresto.com/Notas/El-asado-660.aspx |title=El asado |date=28 April 2010 |work=Vía Restó.com |publisher=Grupo Clarín |location=Buenos Aires |language=Spanish |trans-title=The asado |access-date=29 December 2012 |quote=Nacido en el centro de las costumbres gauchas, el asado se impuso como el plato nacional por excelencia.}} and is typical of Argentine families to gather on Sundays around one.{{cite web |url=http://www.argentina.ar/_en/tourism/C791-argentine-gastronomy.php? |title=Gastronomía |publisher=Argentina.ar |language=Spanish |trans-title=Gastronomy |access-date=24 July 2013 |quote=Son muy comunes –casi mayoritarias- las reuniones en torno a la comida. [...] Las reuniones familiares en domingos generalmente son en torno a un asado o un buen plato de pastas. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217023546/http://www.argentina.ar/_en/tourism/C791-argentine-gastronomy.php |archive-date=17 February 2011 }}]]

The Gaucho culture, or Gaúcho culture, is the set of knowledge, arts, tools, food, traditions and customs that have served as a reference to the gaucho.

Geographically, in the 18th and 19th centuries it was extended by a region of South America that covers much of the territory of Argentina,{{cite web |url=http://www.gaucho-argentino.com/en/gaucho-culture/ |title=Gaucho Culture |website=gaucho-argentino.com |publisher=Gaucho Argentino |access-date=May 13, 2016}} all of Uruguay, and the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil,{{cite web |title=The Fate of Gauchos and Cattle Ranching in Southern Brazil |url=https://www.amakella.com/gaucho-cowboys-and-the-future-of-cattle-ranching/ |website=amakella.com |access-date=18 June 2017}} where it is known as Gaucho culture.{{cite book |chapter=South American history |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |chapter-url=http://global.britannica.com/topic/gaucho |type=Web |language=English |edition=15th |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |isbn=1-59339-292-3 |oclc=71783328 |access-date=May 14, 2016 |quote=Gaucho, the nomadic and colourful horseman and cowhand of the Argentine and Uruguayan Pampas (grasslands), who flourished from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century and has remained a folk hero similar to the cowboy in western North America. The term also has been used to refer to cowhands and other people of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil.}}{{cite web |url=http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/argartcultureentertain/a/gauchos.htm |title=Gauchos of Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil |date=January 29, 2016 |website=gosouthamerica.about.com |access-date=May 15, 2016 |archive-date=April 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426010715/http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/argartcultureentertain/a/gauchos.htm |url-status=dead }} In historical gauchos were reputed to be brave, if unruly, the word is also applied metaphorically to mean "Noble, brave and generous",Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, Gaucho, sense 1. but also "One who is skillful in subtle tricks, crafty".Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, Gaucho, sense 4.

The Gaucho culture has resulted in styles and forms of expression in music, literature and theater is very defined. Some of its main components are related to the importance of rural life of plain, horse, guitar, mate and beef, as well as the values of solidarity, loyalty, hospitality and courage.