Food revolution bypasses Buenos Aires

[mini]

I'm not at all so fond of pasta as many are (perhaps a result of my upbringing, son of Americans, largely in northwestern Europe -- I delight in French cuisine and am content with the best of American -- or German, or Danish, or English, or many another). Fine Italian cuisine does please me, but -- de gustibus non disputantum -- o algo así -- certainly not as my main diet.

It's all in that diversity thing, isn't it?

Well, I was sort of just joking about your play of words on "bread & water" punishment.

But, I'm not a huge fan of "pasta", in general, either. I never order pasta at restaurants except in Italy and my husband, who is Italian, makes pasta at home which is divine. However, you need the right pasta, cooked the right way & then it's amazing even when it's simple.

Personally, I get bored easily with food & I like diversity, even in one meal. So my absolute favorite type of meal would be Spanish tapas where I can get lots of tastes of lots of little plates. I like to order different things & share. Not everyone likes to do that though.

 

[sergio]

Though the food here may seem very dull to gourmets from places like New York and San Francisco, the fact is that the restaurant scene in BA is very much more interesting than it used to be. In the past it was almost exclusively beef and pasta with a few places that pretended to be German or some other form of European but were generally Argentine with a slight nod to some other cuisine.

Aside from beef, the raw goods are disappointing here - poor cheese, vegetables that are worn out by the time they reach market, horrible bread, etc. It's extremely hard to put together a good meal for this reason.

 

[EMR]

Let's open up a restaurant Pericles!

 

[Napoleon]

Let's open up a restaurant Pericles!

Let SteveInBsAs cook one night a week as well!!

I've found spices extremely easy to locate in "Barrio China" and I think I found some good stuff at another grocery store as well, but the location is escaping me at the moment.

Also, Fish is expensive because it is mostly exported for $$$$. The price of beef is surpressed by the government while the price of fish is high because the couple of cartels that own all of the fishing boats make so much money exporting that a premium has to be paid for the fish to stay in the country.

Poor people (especially in Buenos Aires) aren't going to pay a premium for fish when they can get beef for a third to a quarter of the price.

Viva SALT!!

 

[dsc]

Also, Fish is expensive because it is mostly exported for $$$$.

Even hake?

I had that merluza in restaurants when I was down before and it was OK (and inexpensive).

 

[fedecc]

Merluza (hake) is the only fish that is relatively regular in argentine diet, it's cheap and easy to find. I eat "filet de merluza con fritas" almost once every week.

 

[Harleygirl]

I totally agree about the lack of food variety here. I have started making dishes from other cultures by looking at recipe instructions on Youtube. You can also google Indian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, etc. recipes and make them at home. Pericles, your talking about the Greek household you grew up in brought back images from when I was in college. I lived with a Greek family and even though food wasn't included in my rent, they always had a plate for me when I got home from school. I can still smell those wonderful dishes they made. Avgolemeno Soup, Leg of Lamb in Pomegranate Sauce, spanakopita, etc. AWWW....Heaven.

 

[dsc]

Merluza (hake) is the only fish that is relatively regular in argentine diet, it's cheap and easy to find. I eat "filet de merluza con fritas" almost once every week.

I take it even what is inexpensive canned fish in Canada/US (tuna, salmon, kippers, sardines, smoked mussels/oysters) is either not available or costly, as well in BA?

This alone isn't a "deal-breaker". Just curious.


BTW -- anybody know any of the grocery chain websites where you can surf the products online and see what's available yourself? I was able to do this for Uruguyan supermercados in the past. Haven't had any luck for any Argentinian ones..

 

[syngirl]

Good product can be found in Buenos Aires. It's just that you can't be lazy and go to one supermarket and get it. You have to go to a good carnicero for your meat, a pescaderia for your fish, get a good relationship going with your verduleria, and find yourself a good fiambreria.

You also have to accept the fact that you don't live in America anymore and eat with the season, not expect fresh strawberries and mangoes in the middle of winter for instance.

It was an adjustment at first but we eat a variety of foods at home, I make my own sushi, curries, mexican, whatever, and I grew up cooking more french-influenced stuff so I make a lot of that.

By the way, if you really don't want to spend a lot of money, you don't have to. You just have to learn how to cook your cuts of meat properly. You can buy really cheap cuts of meat but you have to be willing to invest the time in them to cook them well. You can take pretty much any crappy piece of meat and braise it in a good bottle of malbec with some herbs and garlic slowly for about 3hrs and you'll have a fantastic meal, good enough for guests. Serve with some roasted root vegetables and great winter meal.

One of my friend's makes a divine osso bucco -- one of the cheapest cuts here.

Basically, you can cook anything you want here, but you have to learn how to become a good cook, and you have to invest the time -- which is probably why most locals stick to a diet of milanesas, empanadas, and patys.

Since living here I've learned how to debone pretty much any cut of meat too -- get yourself a good cleaver, some kitchen shears, and youtube. Frozen whole chickens cost about the same as one sad little fresh deboned breast -- better to buy the frozen and learn how to debone.

Which reminds me: CAREFUL with buying chicken here. A lot of the chicken in the supermarkets has already been frozen and then is put in the refrigerated section where it defrosts. You cannot refreeze these chickens. Myself and my friends have noticed this especially in Carrefour and some of the Coto Supermercados. Occasionally there will be fineprint saying not to refreeze, but do be careful.

 

[syngirl]

I take it even what is inexpensive canned fish in Canada/US (tuna, salmon, kippers, sardines, smoked mussels/oysters) is either not available or costly, as well in BA?

I haven't shooped for canned fish in about a month, but last time I looked I believe it was about 6 pesos for a can of tuna, same for a tin of sardines. You can get all of that cnned and with different sauces, tomato sauces, lemon & oil etc. They have canned cazuelas as well (stews with variety of seafood)

Re online shopping -- our neighbour's girlfriend did it with Coto or Disco, but I have the feeling that she just placed a phone order, not through the website.