A culinary tale

From one national obsession to another, let me tell you a bit about Argentinians and their eating habits, which can appear a little bizarre.

First of all, the timing for dining in Argentina is so late. Most restaurants are empty until at least 9 o´clock, and even at 11 you´ll see queues at the door to some places waiting to get a feed. Somehow though, this seems to work ok, and I seem to have adjusted to eating quite late relatively easily... although midnight after the soccer was potentially pushing my limits (I think my stomach was about to eat itself actually!).

One thing about this place is that wherever you go there seems to be the smell of Barbecue, so as an Aussie craving summer it makes me feel quite at home. But this is an important clue to another big part of Argentinian culture:

Meat.

Sorry veggos, but here? Don´t think they even know the meaning of the word. I was ordering pasta, asked if it was vegetarian and he said ¨Si, Si¨. Then explained to me that the ravioles have spinach and cheekin. Cheekin...cheekin...¨you mean chicken? Pollo?¨ (I was pleased that I had to confirm in Spanish!) It was delicious, but not quite vegetarian!

So it´s all about the meat, and in particular, the beef. It´s not uncommon to see women and men alike, sit down to a plate of steak for lunch (with maybe a lettuce leaf on the side if that). These people must have the best iron counts in the world! I saw a woman at the supermarket tonight, buying at least 15 trays of steak, accounting for at least 80% of her basket!

My two encounters with the good stuff have been quite as delicious as the smells would suggest. In La Boca, we had an amazing barbecue and my choice was a simple skewer. WELL! Turns out it was a supersized skewer. Three hunks of melt-in-your-mouth meet with capsicum and onion and delish relishy stuff which I can't pronounce. It was so enticing and I was so starving I didn't even get a photo, so you'll have to believe me!

And when I thought that was good, along came La Cabrera, or what must be the best restaurant in BsAs. This restaurant is in a lovely little neighbourhood called Palermo, which is full of quirky designer stores and lovely oldstyle houses. Had a great day wandering around and looking at all the great shops (a little Brunswick st- ish), and making notes of where to come back to!!

Anyway, the restaurant. I ordered the half portion steak but I´m not sure it made much difference because I swear they served up half a cow! It was so nicely presented on a big wooden board, with about a dozen little dishes of antipastos to accompany it, from pumpkin and mash to mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and whole garlic cloves.

It. Was. Amazing!

I could only get through half though there was so much food. Check out the photos-and the size of the steak knife!! Now having recieved what must be my yearly iron quota, all I need now is a good plate of veggies!

x Felicity

PS A note on photos. I have a link on the side to all the albums in my photobucket. If you go there you can see the pics not in slide show, and hopefully also see the comments under some. But will also keep posting the slideshows on the blog, so you have the choice how you want to view them!!

La Boca y futbol

Buenos dias!

Another beautiful sunny day in BA, though still a little on the chilly (not Chile) side!! haahaaa

Well as you probably know, soccer is a National obsession here in Argentina. They are absolutely crazy about it, and yesterday I took a trip into the lion's den as it were and visited the neighbourhood of La Boca, home of La Boca Juniors futbol team.

La Boca is one of the poorer neighbourhoods in BsAs, but also one of the most charismatic (assuming you don't mind a bit of a touristy flavour). It means "the mouth" and was settled by Italian immigrants. The reason for its charm is the fact that all the houses are painted in a patchwork of bright colours, with cute little windows and corrugated tin roofs.

The story goes that people living here used to steal the paint from the people painting their boats and use it to paint their houses. So, as you can imagine, the colours weren't usually the same and they just took what they got, resulting in a lovely mismatch that makes for some nice pics on a sunny day! Now though, the government pays for the houses to be maintained to keep the money rolling.

Things are a little touristy, what with the Tango shows and restauranteurs hustling for your business ¨oooooh you from Australia, ACDC!!!¨(well guess it makes a change from kangaroo!!). But it has a nice, fun atmosphere and there are lots of artists set up in the street selling paintings, photos, crafts etc. And football jerseys of course!

At the home of the Boca Juniors, we visited the stadium and museum and got the low down on all the security issues etc. There are big plastic screens with barbs on top and huge wire fences. The supporters are all separated, and the opposition supporters only get one little area of the stadium (2500 seats) in which to sit. Our guide told us how her friend had crushed ribs from being pushed into the bars (standing room only, and very steep!), and how being in the lower stands, beneath the opposition, leaves one vulnerable to flying objects, and, well, ¨liquids¨shall we say.

So with all this in mind, I went along to a game last night... a showdown between La Boca and Velez. Ridiculously enough we had to be there 2 hours before the game, stood the whole time, then had to wait for half an hour after for the opposition to leave to prevent any scirmishes on the way out. But it was great fun, and they really do go nuts! I´m sure that all the chanting is simply to stop a bit of boredom during the game...and to warm up!! But the passion the supporters show I´m sure would rival any die hard Collingwood fan, they are soooo into it and have so many chants etc it is a really great atmosphere.

Meat-lovers stay tuned, I have a steak story to tell and pictures that´ll make you drool!

Hasta luego,

x Felicity