Cheese please!

[mcaffa]

Which cheese would you consider to be the closest to swiss cheese here? Gruyere, fontina or pategras?

 

[Terrence]

Gruyere is a style of swiss cheese (there are many). Fontina is Italian, and Pategras is South American. Cheers.

 

[todd]

The cheese in Argentina is just awful, isnt it? poor quality, long shelf life. tastes like it was made in a factory. The milk is clearly tampered with as well. These 2 things are clear as soon as you arrive. Milk isnt the same and cheese is expensive and tastes like plastic. You need to be among the wealthy to shop at patio bullrich etc. where halfway acceptable cheese can be found.

 

[Napoleon]

The quality of cheese is pretty crappy down here... but it's not like they have many cows to work with... Oh, wait a minute.

PLACES TO BUY CHEESE:

JUMBO has a huge cheese selection. I'm thinking that some of it has to have flavor.

LA CASA DEL QUESO on Corrientes near Pueyrredon. ( http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=1239 ) It's also a restaurant.

I'm thinking that mall near the Altopista near ~Austria... like "Paseo Alcorte" or something like that? It's got a big Carrefour in it and I'm thinking that because of their clientele, much like Patio Bullrich, you're going to find cheese with flavor. (Or course, at a premium.)

 

[Harleygirl]

I love swiss cheese too and have found that Pategras is the closest to the kind I would buy for sandwiches in the US. Try SanCor brand Pategras which can be found in Jumbo, Disco or Carrefours....or, like the others recommended, a deli shop. There is a deli called "Al queso, queso" in Belgrano which has very good cheese.

 

[Davidglen77]

Try "Mar del Plata" cheese, it's very tasty and only about $25 pesos / kilo. It's fairly close to swiss I would say.

 

[sergio]

The best place I have found for cheese is Valenti in Patio Bullrich. Al Queso... is also good but neither place has much variety. You can get brie and camembert (domestic and imported from France) but that's about it for French style cheese. Nothing at all from the UK. Some bad locally made "Cheddar" can be found at Patio Bullrich. Even at these upscale places cheese is generally bland (blue is the most flavorful here). It's hard to understand why an agricultural country can'd do better or why they can't even import a greater variety of cheese. Argentines don't know what they are missing.

 

[Napoleon]

There is a deli called "Al queso, queso" in Belgrano which has very good cheese.

"Al queso, queso" is a chain.

It doesn't matter where you live, even if you don't know it, there's one near you. (Because if you're reading this board, then you live in a neighborhood that would have one or more "Al queso, queso's".)

Ask at your local kiosko where the "Al queso, queso" store is. They should know.

 

[cujodu]

Yes, for such a big "cow" country, the cow products are kinda sad. Even the meat here, though plentiful and cheap, isn't all that great unless you pay a fortune at Cabana las Lilas or the equivalent. I'm sure all the carnivores will disagree, feel free, but in my opinion, good meat should be tender enough to cut with a fork, not tough enough to replace the soles of your shoes.

 

[rolja]

The cheese in Argentina is just awful, isnt it? poor quality, long shelf life. tastes like it was made in a factory. The milk is clearly tampered with as well. These 2 things are clear as soon as you arrive. Milk isnt the same and cheese is expensive and tastes like plastic. You need to be among the wealthy to shop at patio bullrich etc. where halfway acceptable cheese can be found.

I guess you are a cheddar lover aren't you?