Adventures in Vagabonding

Life centers the kitchen table as families teach etiquette, celebrate holidays, and eat the recipes of their grandmothers. While it’s different in each home, every culture shares similarities. So in order to absorb culture while traveling, you should always try the local food. Being a vegetarian, this isn’t always possible and it’s particularly difficult in Argentina; unless you’re with a rather insistent carnivore.
My friend complained often about traveling this meaty country with an herbivore, though I highly encouraged eating steak. So I agreed to give Argentinean beef a taste and in exchange my friend had to quit complaining. But since it was the first time I was eating meat in 13 years, I insisted on the best steak she’s ever had and would settle for nothing less.
Soon we arrived in Cordoba to stay with a friend and her family. One sunny afternoon, the parents hosted a barbeque for some family and we all gathered around the table outside. Her father took time and care cooking the meat on the parrilla, the grill, with wood chip embers and smoking the meat with newspapers. Everyone enjoyed wine and conversation and slowly the various forms of meat came out on a large wooden platter. Small pieces were cut as everyone tasted a bite and shared the fresh hot flesh. There were also salads and crusty bread, but the meat was the main event and it arrived in small, consistent waves.
At one point my friend looked over at me and smiled, ‘This is it,” and I smiled too, because I agreed.
I’m sure all the steaks my friend ate in Argentina were delicious, but this one just felt better. We were welcomed in the home of a family of new friends, laughter filled the air, and we were surrounded by rolling green hills. This was the gift of our gracious hosts and I was in the middle of experiencing their culture, why not taste it as well? And so my friend cut a big piece of steak and handed it over with a hopeful heart.
This is the part where you’d expect me to turn my back on years of vegetarianism and decide that I love steaks. But no, I proudly remain a vegetarian many years later (much to my friend’s dismay).
Although I’m sure if I liked meat, that would have been the best steak in the world since it was surrounded by an amazing family, gorgeous scenery, and left me with a warm memory and fulfilling experience. Steak, parrillas, family, wine, relaxation, and passion are all very important to Argentinean culture and I’m thrilled to have been able to experience it.