Recent content by masalsur

Lots of interesting reactions, but I'm not going to give up. Back home in Toronto some of my friends also wonder why I "waste" my time looking for weird ingredients. Cooking is my hobby, and I like a lot of variety for health and interest reasons. When I'm really busy in Toronto I keep going...

I would like to get my hands on some sour cream so that I can make my favourite rabbit dish. You mix sour cream with loads of garlic, coat the rabbit and bake, then use more sour cream with the pan drippings. It is really really good but with regular cream it is just not the same. Also a good...

One thing that irks me is that it has hard to know when you are being ripped off because you have an accent when there are no prices marked on so many goods in so many stores. My first experience of this was in two men's clothing stores in the Abasto. Recently I had to have a lock changed on...

Thanks to all of you who posted answers about birds and game. I can report on the two ducks I bought at Jumbo, frozen, for Christmas dinner. They were quite good. After I hacked off the fat around the tail all I had to do was roast salt them and rub them with paprika, then roast them in a...

I'm not American, but am interested in US politics. However, what I've read here has very little to do with party politics. I was hoping that Democrats would be arguing about who would make the best presidential candidate, or tipping people off about things to read about US foreign policy...

I'd like to turn the conversation back to the kinds of things that I have experienced and could hardly believe were happening to me. Saying "disculpeme" or "permiso" when you've stepped on someone's foot and they are glaring at you is one thing, but not showing up at a dinner party with no sign...

Tango Bob: you must be a Brit; I didn't get the 'two deer' thing at first! Still... can anyone help? I got duck at Jumbo (froze, for over $50 each) but have not found quail or goose yet. Another question: I watch a lot of cooking shows on TV here, and all that I can say is "Where the hell...

When I got here I was really pissed off about the 300 peso limit so I called the Canadian embassy to find out what they knew. They wrote back saying that an "entity" was being investigated for this artifical limit, designed to milk you for Interac fees. My own bank, the Royal Bank of Canada...

Does anyone know of a good place to buy these? I understand that the BsAs area is great for bird hunting; does any of that get into town? Ditto for venison. I've had Patagonian smoked but haven't seen any fresh. I guess I'm really asking for a good all-round butcher shop with meat and fowl.

I am allergic to smoke so didn't go to bars or restaurants back home for many years. Now that Toronto is 100% smoke free, and under 20% of the population smokes, the old arguments about businesses going under due to the ban don't hold anymore. Lots of places now have MORE customers because...

I find prices very good but then I always buy fresh food and cook it from scratch. No kids so I don't know about cereals, but things like pasta sauces in those tiny boxes make me wonder sometimes how much I'm paying. The quality of grocery store vegetables is somewhat low and very variable so...

I have been paying the going rate for a cleaner who was passed on to my by a porteña friend. It is 8 pesos/hour plus 4 for travel. She works 7 hours/week so it is $60 and after 2 months I raised it to $70. When I have a lot of visitors I give her 20 pesos extra per week, and then drop back to...

I have had several experiences where porteños accepted invitations, did not come, did not phone, and when asked about it, simply told me that it was "late" or that they had decided to do something else. Never "Disculpame pero...". When I ask why they didn't at least phone because they knew I...