July 23, 2008
It wouldn’t be a proper recounting of my Argentinean travels if I didn’t talk about the abundance of beef just one more time, or more importantly the style of eating Argentineans are most known for: tenedor libre. Translated as an “open or free fork”, this tradition has all-you-can-eat offerings that consist mostly of steak, I mean lots of different kinds of steak. It’s literally a meat buffet, but instead of cruising through plates of already prepared foods basking in heat lamps, dinner is hot off the grill, er, I mean…the asado.
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July 21, 2008
This is one of those pictures that really doesn’t need any words to persuade you how good it is. So beautiful on it’s own, I almost left you here without an explanation. But then… talkative old me decided I just couldn’t do that to you - I mean, you must be wondering just where this salad came from. Right?
I had this masterpiece in Argentina, at La Cabrera no less (the steakhouse I wrote about here). Since it was our second time back to the restaurant and we knew how big the steak portions were, my friend and I decided to split one order of steak and go with a salad instead. This one salad made of hearts of palm, tomatoes and avocados sounded interesting to her.
We ordered it and fell in love.
Recipe after the jump!
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July 17, 2008
Whenever I travel, I like to find the little nuances of life that differ from what I’m used to here at home (Chicago). I love to compare the foodways of other cultures to my own and imagine myself growing up in another country. I guess you could call it a hobby I’ve taken up in the albeit spontaneous traveling I’ve been doing lately. It makes me incredibly grateful to have such opportunities to expand my horizons.
For example, did you know that in Argentina the stoplights turn yellow before turning green? Me either! Or that almost all the cars driven there are stick shift, and even when you have 8 lanes going one direction on a highway…that’s still not enough to not justify squeezing in between cars and creating 12 lanes of cars driving practically on top of eachother (Yea, the driving was a little bit crazy there. At one point, I compared it to New York and my friend laughed at me for making the understatement of the century).
But more important than anything car-related, there were certainly some interesting foods I came across. Some were what I expected…others were hardly expected at all. From empanadas to crustless bread sandwiches, below is an itinerary of just some of the foods (and drinks) I discovered in Argentina.
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July 16, 2008
After our whirlwind weekend tour of Buenos Aires (full of tango dancing, street festivals, bus tours and shopping), we decided on Monday that we needed a day to relax. We slept in that morning and gave ourselves a lax agenda that consisted of only one destination: the Japanese Gardens. A cute little place to walk around, the gardens were nice but something tells me they are not the main attraction. At least for me, the highlight of this day trip was visiting the on-site restaurant:Jardin Japonais (Japanese Gardens).
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July 15, 2008
Life is sweet, especially when you’re in Argentina. It isn’t just the abundance of steak, it’s the fact that every other facet of Argentinean cuisine (that I’ve come across) has something sweet about it. Whether it’s buttery, sugar-topped croissants in the morning, or a snack of churros and dulce de leche, there is nothing too sweet for Argentina.
In my week long stay, I came across a whole slew of food items that I don’t ordinarily assume would be sweet. For example, there was sweetened ketchup, coffee that tasted naturally sweet, and even sweet spreadable cheese! My friend even thought the fries were sweet, but I think we were just going overboard.
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July 14, 2008
The hardest part about traveling is knowing where to begin when you come back. After a week-long vacation to Argentina, I don’t know whether I should start with the abundance of steak, the delicious churros, or the perfectly smooth dulce de leche. I’ve literally sat here pondering what to tell you about first. And I know I will get to all aspects of this delicious vacation in due time but it’s just that first impressions are so important.
So why not start with my first impression of Buenos Aires? The very staple I’ve associated with Argentina and perhaps one of the reasons I went: cheap, delicious steak!
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