After yet another bland meal in the Casa Holanda, I have been hopelessly reminiscing about the weekend trip I took to Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago. I just can't stop fantisizing about all of the culinary delights that the city has to offer. Sometimes I feel like a contestant on Survivor; always craving what I can't have.
Ok, I admit that I'm exaggerating as usual. The food in Santiago is very tasty as well, it's just that Buenos Aires is the kind of city where you go into a bakery just to look at the pasteries.
I will now take you on a culinary tour of Buenos Aires while my mouth waters and I ponder whether I can afford another trip there in the near future.
We arrived on Thursday night starving and crabby. Our flight was delayed about 2 hours due to fog and the mystery meat sandwich that LAN gave us just didn't do it for me. My buddy Jasper who lives in Bs.As. took us to a little hole in the wall place to watch Tonolec perform (an Argentine duo that fuses Indigenous and electronic music- check them out!). All I can say is CHEESE! Although it's definitely possible to find good cheese in Santiago, it's a rare commodity for someone like me who shops at the normal grocery stores. Being a Wisconsin native, I know my cheese and I miss it terribly. In conclusion, lesson #1: if you've been in South America for a while and haven't had your fill of cheese, you'll find it in Bs.As.
Now I'm not much of a meat-eater. However, during one weekend alone in Bs.As., I probably ate more meat than I have all semester in Santiago. After hearing so much about Argentine beef, I prepared myself for a let down. No way. This stuff melts in your mouth. I'm not sure why it tastes so different from beef in the US; maybe they treat the animals better? The best part is that at the parrillas if you ask nicely and use the magic word, the waiter will have the chefs show you the different cuts of meat so you know what to order. We ate at a parrilla called Don Julio, and they had coolers upon coolers of meat that the chef eagerly showed off for us. The second best part is the prices. You will be floored by how cheap steak is in Bs.As., especially if you're from the US.
One thing that surprised me was how popular Italian food is in Buenos Aires. It is everywhere, and it was good every time we had it. After a long night out on the town, Jasper took us to Kentucky, which is a pizza joint that's open 24 hours (a.k.a. Bs.As. drunk food). The pizza was good, of course, but the interesting part was that they include a piece of faina, which is a type of pie made of chick peas. I had never heard of it. All I can say about that is "rico" (yum, for you non-Spanglish speakers out there).
While I was expecting to taste different types of wine in Buenos Aires, we actually found about about a micro-brewery in Palermo Soho called Antares. We each ordered 2 different types of beer and they were all delicious. Once again, we Wisco kids know our beer and we were impressed. The food was good too; we got to taste BBQ sauce for the first time in months!
It is official. I have falled in love with Buenos Aires. Now don't even get me started on the shopping...
