Spices in Argentina

[Aleina Dee]

Saffron (azafrán) in El gato Negro . They do sell it in most chinos ((behind the checkout) as well but the quality is not that good.

 

[canadien]

Thanks. I'll be in Córdoba, so no Gato Negro or Chinatown for me.
That is why I am asking about availability in regular grocery stores.

 

[davonz]

Thanks. I'll be in Córdoba, so no Gato Negro or Chinatown for me.

chinos are regular grocery stores, they are everywhere.. Just little chinese own supermarkets/corner shops...

the thing i usually bring is curry powder, as the stuff you can buy here is crap.. its smells like curry powder, looks like curry powder, but it has no bite, and has a weak flavour.. it is also hard to find (i have never seen it) green/red curry paste..

 

[canadien]

chinos are regular grocery stores, they are everywhere.. Just little chinese own supermarkets/corner shops...

the thing i usually bring is curry powder, as the stuff you can buy here is crap.. its smells like curry powder, looks like curry powder, but it has no bite, and has a weak flavour.. it is also hard to find (i have never seen it) green/red curry paste..

Thanks Davonz.

I realize that chinos are regular grocery stores, having lived in Buenos Aires. Its a chinatown with a wider selection of spices that won't have access to in Córdoba.

I will definately bring green curry with me

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

Same as in BA, you will find a much better selection of spices in dieteticas in Cordoba. I can find most of these spcies at small dieteticas in my Barrio, Alta Cordoba. For a bigger selection, I like EcoCentro, which has locations in Centro on Santa Rosa, entre Rivera y San Martin or on Tucuman near 9 de Julio. The biggest and best dietetic is called Mundo Verde, which is on Colon/Emilio Olmos, near General Alvear.

There is also an upscale alamecen (Alamecen de Mario perhaps?) that sells cheap and tasty peanut butter (Cordoba is a big peanut producer) Dean Funes and Rivera, on the petonal, tucked in the corner.

I have purchased all these spices in Cordoba. Besides dieteticas, you could also check the spice place inside Mercado Norte and also the Bolivian women who sit outside and sell veggies - they always have tumeric for cheap.

Let me know if you have any other questions about Cordoba.

Suerte!

 

[canadien]

wow! great info,voyagingknoxvillian.

Thank you.

(yes , it is Almacen de Mario.)

 

[Markgeezer]

Hi, all sounds pretty straight forward to me, even if you are based in Cordoba. Cinnamon sticks could be tricky though ! I have some sitting in a jar that I have never used. What would you use them for exactly ? If you cook curry though you should get stocked up with ALL that you need, as you won't find anything decent here, only small overpriced packets of poor quality. It's hard enough to find garam masala.

 

[canadien]

Hi, all sounds pretty straight forward to me, even if you are based in Cordoba. Cinnamon sticks could be tricky though ! I have some sitting in a jar that I have never used. What would you use them for exactly ? If you cook curry though you should get stocked up with ALL that you need, as you won't find anything decent here, only small overpriced packets of poor quality. It's hard enough to find garam masala.

Hi Markgeezer,

I will be cooking alot of Indian food, epecially curries, in which I often throw in cinnamon sticks which I remove after cooking. I will bring with me spices such as cardamom, garam masala mix, cumin seeds , etc. and purchase in Córdoba only basic spices that are readily available and reasonably priced.

Thanks for your response.

 

[Markgeezer]

You can buy cardomom pods and ground cardomom, and cumin seeds in Bs As at least, but Garam masala is (or was?) only sold in tiny packets at an outrageous price so bring that, and all your favourite masala mixes which are not available here, you can't get anything for fish for example, and tandoori spices come very expensive IF you can find them.... also popadoms just bring a shed load as you can't even get them in Indian restaurants. Basmati rice is also becoming scarce, the last Indian restaurant I went to didn't even have it !!! Hope this helps some more.

 

[BWalker]

I managed to find a lot of the main spices I needed at most of the places mentioned so far, the problem being they just weren't any good. Over the past 8 months I found myself needing to alter recipes and increase the use of mediocre spices to get what I wanted, and cooking curry 5 times a week it can get a bit out of hand! I recommend bringing as much as you possibly can.

Hence why I'm currently carrying 4kg of spices from Mumbai in my luggage home! Look forward to following up the advice here when it's all gone.