Pericles-

I experienced your upbringing this past Friday night... but it was in Mar del Plata.

It was dinner at a house with parents in the late 50s to 60s (I'm guessing). The three kids were there (late 20s to mid 30s) with their spouses as well as my friend and I.

The bigger table was actually IN the kitchen and the mom was preparying stuffed squid (calamari lleno) cooked in a home made tomato sauce. The squid were then removed and cut into ~ 1 cm width slices and then laid on top of a bed of rice and covered with the tomato sauce. It was delicious and the squid was amazingly tender. (Not rubbery like when it's overcooked.)

There were also two different home made tartas. And before that, there were small cubes of a Spanish/Argentine style "tortilla" that was a million times better than you find in the prepared food places in BsAs.

This family was definitely "middle class" (not upper by any means) and the food was so much better than the food of a similar style that you find in Buenos Aires. We shared wine, the son-in-law ribbed the father about his football team, we watched one football (soccer) game and then left the TV on because the next one came on...

The experience was as great as the food, but for some reason, in Buenos Aires, people don't like food with as much flavor.