Originally Posted by gouchobob

I agree with the comments. The food that the average Argentine consumes on the whole is pretty bland and all that beef is not very healthy.

I was fortunate enough to have a Peruvian diplomat as friend there and was invited to his home on many occasions. He generally hosted 2 or 3 dinners a week related to his duties in his home. He had a maid from Peru who prepared all the meals and it was some of the best food I've ever had. All the food was first class Peruvian dishes.

My friend has since moved on to another posting but the maid stayed on and went to work for an upper class Argentine in B.A. Her new employers do not wish to even sample the Peruvian dishes she can make. They insist on the usual bland Argentine fare. She buys other food out of her own pocket and prepares it separately to get a decent meal.

My guess is that this is what she would experience in many B.A. homes. We could speculate endlessly why this is but I will offer my own theory.
Argentina is fairly isolated geographically and socially. This has led to attitudes that I would call insular, some would say arrogant. Many Argentines believe that their country is the leader of S.A. and has the best of everything compared to other countries on the continent. Therefor there is no need to import ideas or thinking including those about cooking from other countries.

Food from other countries may catch on in B.A. to a limited extent but the vast majority will stick with their tired but trusted Argentine dishes and never know what they are missing.