Pheasant, goose, duck, quail, venison...

[masalsur]

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.

 

[tangobob]

I have heard that you can buy 8 legs of venison in Carrefor, but everyone says they are two Deer.

Sorry I could not resist it.

 

[masalsur]

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 do they buy all that stuff?". I must be 'way off base in my shopping, but these shows use everything you'd expect to find in Europe or North America but can't find here. It took me ages just to find cilantro, let alone all the lovely ingredients they have in this fantasy TV world. Is there some obvious place that I've missed? I've been here nearly 4 months and have started wanting to branch out again to the kinds of things I'm used to eating in Toronto.

 

[VMSmith]

First of all, don't expect to find goose here. Duck, yes (it's called pato); goose, no. You can get duck in Barrio Chino, and some of the poultry shops in the mercados and ferías. Quail, too. Don't know about pheasant or venison. Wild boar is here somewhere, because I've had it in restaurants.The restaurants that serve Patagonian food tend to have more of the wild stuff, and if you eat in one and find venison or whatever, you can probably find out where they get it. If you peruse Dan Perlman's restaurant reviews you can find Patagonian places under the Argentine section...
http://www.saltshaker.net/restaurant-reviews/bsas-restaurant-reviewsRegarding ingredients, you just have to beat the bushes and look. The two big supermarkets in Barrio Chino have lots of stuff you cannot find elsewhere, and Norte supermercados tend to have a pretty big import section. The dieteticas (which abound around town) often have ingredients you cannot find elsewhere.Finally, you might consider splurging and having dinner at Dan Perlman's in-house restaurant, Casa Saltshaker. Dan is an American chef who lives here, and he's a wealth of information regarding where to get hard-to-find food items...http://www.casasaltshaker.com/

 

[SaltShaker]

I don't know if I'm a wealth of info, though thanks for the plug, and I'll give it a shot. As noted, goose not available (unless you want to go to the pond by the planetarium and try to catch one yourself). Duck, chinatown and occasionally in the supermarkets. Quail and partridge, not hard to find - lots of carnicerias have them, usually, though not always, frozen (fresh generally only "in season", i.e., autumn. Pheasant, I've seen at the Carrefours in Paseo Alcorta, frozen. Venison likewise. Plus, I've found that most butchers will order any of these for you if you give them a day or two's notice. The Feria Modelo Belgrano (Juramento/Ciudad de la Paz) has a shop in the back that specializes in game meats, both birds and four legged critters.

 

[Ariel]

Is there anywhere that sells fresh turkey? I have only seen frozen and don't care for the taste of what I have tried. Also does the cranberry exist in Argentina?

 

[nikad]

You can get fresh turkey at some poultry stores, there is one on Rodriguez Peña and Arenales, and a butcher called El Pollo Bionico on Armenia 2283 ( I think you have to order it and they bring it within a couple of days ). As for cranberry, you can find canned cranberry from Ocean Spray at Jumbo occasionally during the year or get in touch with these people for fresh cranberries and cranberry juice: http://arandanoargentino.com.ar/

 

[ghost]

The reason you do not care for the taste of the Supermarket turkeys you find here is because they come from Brazil and are impreganted with salt and other spices before freezing. They do taste awful! Good birds can be purchased at La Granja in the mercado in Belgrano. They are free range and organic from Cordoba. They deliver to your home. 4781-1243. I just did a twenty pounder for Thanksgiving and it was as good as any that I have ever done [better than many.] Cranberries can be had from Jumbo. OceanSpray. Happy Hunting.

 

[masalsur]

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 very hot oven for 30 minutes, followed by 20 minutes or so with the heat turned down. For frozen grocery story ducks I would rate them well above the ones I get in Canada, which are much fatter and therefore a lot more trouble to manage as they drip out their fat in the oven. I flambed cut off the legs and breasts and flambéd them with brandy and orange liqueur. They were a bit hit with my porteño friends. I was surprised b/c they often think that what I cook is weird.

BTW I also served a platter of crudités -- carrots, cucumber, celery, red and green peppers -- with two kinds of dipping sauce. People actually laughed out loud at this. One friend, who lived in the US for several years, told everyone that he had tried raw vegetables once and didn't like them, so nobody ate them except one guy who seemed as puzzled as me (and he has never travelled outside of ArgentinA).

Is the idea of eating raw vegetables so incredibly weird? I've seen a commercial for Hellman's mayonnaise where they seem to be promoting dipping raw vegetables into their product. Interestingly, it ends with a statement to the effect that natural foods are good. Too bad the product they are flogging is the only thing in the commercial that isn't natural!
masalsur

 

[SaltShaker]

It's an interesting observation - I've been lectured to by some Argentines, mostly of older generations, on the "dangers" of eating raw vegetables beyond a few that are used in salads. I used to get the same lectures from folks of similar age in Rome and other parts of southern Italy, and I'm betting that it comes from there with the Italian culture, and I've also heard and seen similar in England. I've never heard a solid rational explanation for where the bias comes from that most vegetables have to be... cooked to death... but it's definitely prevalent in various places. I think that that attitude is changing here (and in other locales) as folks discover that an uncooked bell pepper is not a lethal weapon.