Jimbo's guide to Argentina #1 ... Food & Drink.

Hi all,

I think my last few posts have been all too much like holiday snaps so I'm going to change pace a little. I've been Argentina for nearly 6 weeks now so I've experienced quite a few things here. My new series.. "Jimbo's guide to Argentina" will be observations, common themes, contrasts with back home, musings and so on. This might or might not be more interesting than the holiday snap posts but at least it'll be a change.

What else could I start with but Food and drink. These are two of the most important things in our lives - we have to eat and drink more than once every day and they can be a source of much enjoyment.

So here goes...but first my spanish translation of that preamble...

(Hola,

Pienso mi ultima unas posts fue demasiado como fotos de vacaciones por eso voy a cambiar un poco. He estado en Argentina durante seis semanas por eso he experimentado muchas cosas. "Jimbo's guide to Argentina" será observaciones, temas comunes, contrastas con Escosia, reflexiones etcétera. Tal vez este será mas ínterestante que fotos de vacaciones, tal vez no pero será un cambio.

Que otra cosa para comenzar que Comida y bebida? Dos de cosas mas importante en nuestras vidas.

vamos...)

First thing to say is I really like a lot of the food here. I'm not a particularly fussy eater (any more, I'm sure I was as a kid) but I've really enjoyed a lot of the food here. Heres some of the things I've liked most...

1. Steak - Argentine beef is great.

(1. Filete de Carne - carne de Argentina es fabuloso)

2. Steak - I'm being a bit silly but the beef here is fantastic and I've eaten a lot of it. Truly world class. I should really try different stuff when I go to a Parilla restaurant (barbecue/Asado restaurant) but I find it very hard to get past the carne part of the menu!

(2. Filete de carne - (yo hago una broma! Pero la carne de Argentina es de clase mundial y yo he comido muchas!)

Exhibit A. My dinner last night. Bife de chorizo, mashed potatoes and carrots.
(Mi cena de anoche, Bife de chorizo, pure de papa y zanahorias)

Before...
(Antes...)

Cooked to perfection if I do say so myself - Jugoso as they say here which means juicy, medium rare we call it.
The cuts of steak are slightly different here. Bife de chorizo is like a Sirloin. Lomo is like a fillet ... I've got a nice bit of lomo in the fridge awaiting my attention this evening!

(cocido perfecto! - Jugoso! Tengo algunas lomo para esta noche!)

After...

(Despues...)

Why is the beef so good here? It has a really soft texture and great flavour and I believe this comes from the grass the cows eat on the large humid pampas pastures.

(Por que la carne de Argentina es tan bueno? - Las Vacas comer hierba de las pampas y este es muy bueno.)

3. Ice cream.
I've not gone quite so mad on the ice cream but I have had a lot more than I usually would because it's world class. Actually, I think Ice cream is a bit of a lifestyle here. Every town has a few ice cream shops and they always seem to be full of people. Maybe it's partly due to the hot weather. They do have a load of different flavours to choose from and here's something I had earlier...

(3. Helado.

No he comido el helado con la frecuencia como carne pero mucho mas de cuando estoy en escocía porque es clase mundial! Todas las ciudades tienen muchas heladerías y que estan ocupado con frecuencia!)

Check out the 1/4 KG Jauja (ice cream tub) bottom right - that's all for me. 3 flavours. Dulce de leche (of course) lemon (ah the old sweet and sour contrast) and banana (because I like bananas).

(Mira la juaja aqui! Todo para mi! Tres sabores. Dulce de Leche (por supuesto!), Limon (amargo contraste con dulce!) y banana (porque me gusta bananas))

All gone! Well, I was cycling today and that can work up an ice cream hunger in this heat!
(Todo comido! Fui a lago por bicicleta hoy, ciclismo puede darme hambre por helado!)

4. Wine
Although it was too hot in Posadas to drink much wine I have been sampling a good deal more since I've moved on. It's the best accompaniment for a good bit of steak and the Malbec from here is great. Soon I go to Mendoza, the home of malbec.

(4. Vino.
Estuvo demasiado calor cuando yo estuve en Posadas para tomar vino. Pero yo he bebido mucho mas desde entonces. Vino es la mejor bebida acompañar carne y Malbec es delicioso. Voy a ir a Mendoza pronto, el origen de Malbec.)

5. Salads.
Nice fresh salads. I was given great food by my hosts in Posadas (Thanks Veronica and Marcelo!) and they always gave me a nice bowl of salad with my dinner. Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots or cabbage, yum yum. Also the dressings here are good. I've had both olive oil and vinegar on the side or occasionally a house dressing on the side in restaurants. Argentina produces its own olive oil and balsamic vinegar which are great.

(5. Buena fresca ensaladas. Me dieron comida fantastico en Posadas (Muchas gracias Veronica y Marcelo!) y siempre me dieron ensalada con cena. Tomate, lechuga, zanahoria o col. Tambien los aderezos son muy bien en Argentina. Ellos producen aceite de olivia y vinagre balsamico en Argentina y esto es muy bueno.)

6. Empanadas.
Found throughout south America I believe. These are a bit like pasties back home. Pastry on the outside and filled with meat, chicken, cheese or vegetables although I think there are also sweet ones in some places. Apparently the recipe changes from region to region and there is much debate about the "right" way to make an empanada. I've not really noticed too much difference yet between places. They are great for a picnic lunch but the quality varies by the place you buy them in so its good to get a recommendation.

(6. Empanadas. Encontraba en todos los sudamericana yo creo. Son como "pasties" en Escosia o Inglaterra. Llenaba con carne, pollo, queso o verdura. Pero yo creo son empanadas dulce tal vez. Yo creo que la receta es diferente en diferente regiones. Es mejor que recibir un recomendación porque la calidad puede variar.)

7. Milanesa
This is meat or chicken encrusted in breadcrumbs. We have something similar at home - escalopes.

(7. Milanesa...
Carne o pollo en pan rallado. Son como "escalopes" En Escosia o inglaterra.

Ok that's my top 7 favourites. The argentine diet is fairly protein rich. I'm surprised I didn't put chicken on the list above as I've had a lot of chicken here too and it's very good.

(Bueno, estas es mi siete favoritas. Mucho proteína! No he incluida pollo - es una sorpresa porque he comido mucho y esta es muy bueno.

Other observations

• As well as the Ice cream there are other italian influences in the food. There are a lot of Pizza places (sometimes Pizza and Pasta, sometimes Pizza and Empanada). However, mostly the pizzas are not how I like them best as they seem to like them here with american style thick bases and lots of cheese. (Hay mucho restaurants de Pizza, pero no me gusta mucho la base gruesa y las porciones de queso, como las pizzas en Los Estados Unidos)
• Hamburgers are also popular but not in a McDonalds/Burger King way. The hamburgers I've had (as if I needed more beef in my diet!) are more like home made and better. (Hamburguesas son popular pero no en McDonalds o Burger King. Mucho Mejor.)
• Potatoes are very widespread as well as other root type vegetables (there were some that Veronica cooked for me that were tremendous with a steak but I've forgotten what they are called). (Hay mucho Papas en Argentina y otros verduras raiz)  
• There does appear to be a lot of sweet food but as I am not as fond of sweet food I've probably not done this justice - pastries, sweets, uncountable ways of using dulce de leche! (Hay mucho comida dulce!)
• You can get good coffee here in some cafes but I suspect the locals mainly drink mate (or up north terere) as most people carry around their mate and flask. (Puedo tomar cafe pero yo creo los locales prefieren mate o terere)
• Breakfast doesn't seem to be a big meal here. Lunch tends to be a main meal (followed by a siesta perhaps) and dinner could be quite light and late (for us brits). (Desayunar no es una comida grande. Almorza y Cena son mas importante. La cena se come muy tarde.)

Ok, time for me to cook my lomo!

(And the lomo was great! but hold the phone what is this......?

El Lomo fue muy sabroso, pero ... uno momentito...que es esto????

My christmas has come early - a real ale pub in Bariloche!

(Navidad llega temprano - una cervecería artisanal en bariloche!

And (in my opinion) the best of quite a decent selection of ales...the porter - you little beauty!!!!!

(Y en mi opinion la mejor cerveza - "porter" - tremendo!!!!)