The Ideal Life in Baires

[Mano Negra]

When I go grocery shopping its a full aisle of nothing but "pure de tomate" but nothing else to put on your pasta. Why do we need 10 meters of the store dedicated to the same exact product? Can someone make a variety of pasta sauces in a jar ready to eat?

Could it be that most argentine families include someone that can cook? Maybe they don't need to buy ready made crap to put on their pasta? The best thing about shopping here is the quality of the ingredients. They don't sell unripened tomatoes transported for 1000's of miles in a CO2 environment. They are either ripe of rotten....it ain't too complicated to work out which is which.

I'm thinking of starting to give cooking lessons for all you poor expats who can't work a pan. Or even shopping lessons?

Any takers???

 

[ben]

Good things about ba..

1..its BA..its exotic,,,, at first glance
2..its odd, simple things can prove to be a hassle..enjoy it or leave.
3..the local grub( refer to 2)
***
10.Airport costs less than 20 euro to get to, leave if its your choice...I did....but always remember that it was your decision in the first place to go live in ba..

Notwithstanding my earlier comment, when out of a "top 10 good things", 2 include "you can leave", a third links back to one of those two, and a fourth is good "...at first glance", well, that just doesn't sound all that reassuring.

 

[Holden]

Could it be that most argentine families include someone that can cook? Maybe they don't need to buy ready made crap to put on their pasta? The best thing about shopping here is the quality of the ingredients. They don't sell unripened tomatoes transported for 1000's of miles in a CO2 environment. They are either ripe of rotten....it ain't too complicated to work out which is which.

I'm thinking of starting to give cooking lessons for all you poor expats who can't work a pan. Or even shopping lessons?

Any takers???

I can cook but I live alone and cooking for one is time consuming. I don't want to spend every day cooking for hours. Sometimes I just want at least the option of having some ready to go foods... Brazil has it, Chile has it, I just wish Argentina would have it-- which is the theme of this thread.

 

[steveinbsas]

When I go grocery shopping its a full aisle of nothing but "pure de tomate" but nothing else to put on your pasta. Why do we need 10 meters of the store dedicated to the same exact product? Can someone make a variety of pasta sauces in a jar ready to eat?

Just look for the Knorr Salsa Lista (Portuguesa, Bolognesa, Fileto, etc.) that is available in the same isle along with the amazing variety of tomato products for those of us who (usually if not always) prepare our own sauces. .They come in "free standing" foil packets (just like the mayo). There are also small (silver) boxes of ready to use pasta sauce in almost all grocery stores (including the Chinos), but I don't remember the brand name.

If it makes you happier to buy pasta sauce in a jar you'll just have to get lucky and find a larger store that has a supply of Prego or Newman's Own. I've seen them occasionally at Carrefour, Jumbo, and Walmart. You'll notice that Paul is still smiling, at least on the label.

EDIT: I've also seen large cans of Hunt's spaghetti sauce at the larger chains, but I don't think any of these products contribute significantly (if at all) to the ideal Baires life.

 

[Hache]

But if I could change one thing it would be the bland food and lack of variety and options.

I have to admit that when it comes to food we are a bit dull. It's like we are formatted that way. When I lived in Boston I bought my food at Starmarket and it was the same I consumed here. I never bothered trying anything else. In fact, I didn't think about the possibility. It was like being on some kind of automatic pilot. Donuts and peanut butter were my only "discoveries". Now, if I didn't try donuts after living in the States for four years...

As of BA, it used to be worse. Now, for instance, Chinese food is abundant. It was very rare 20 years ago. I don't know how good/bad Chinese food is here, but at least it's one more option in the menu. We need BA to grow more cosmopolitan, and I think it's happening at a slow pace. Better late than never.

 

[Holden]

Just look for the Knorr Salsa Lista (Portuguesa, Bolognesa, Fileto, etc.) that is available in the same isle along with the amazing variety of tomato products for those of us who (usually if not always) prepare our own sauces. .They come in "free standing" foil packets (just like the mayo). There are also small (silver) boxes of ready to use pasta sauce in almost all grocery stores (including the Chinos), but I don't remember the brand name.

If it makes you happier to buy pasta sauce in a jar you'll just have to get lucky and find a larger store that has a supply of Prego or Newman's Own. I've seen them occasionally at Carrefour, Jumbo, and Walmart. You'll notice that Paul is still smiling, at least on the label.

EDIT: I've also seen large cans of Hunt's spaghetti sauce at the larger chains, but I don't think any of these products contribute significantly (if at all) to the ideal Baires life.

I tried those salsas listas they all taste the same-- zero flavor, so I should just buy pure de tomate, and the imported cans/jars are ridiculously expensive. So I have learned (been forced to) make my own pasta sauces.

And I wasn't implying having a cheap jar of spicy tomato sauce would improve the quality of life here (well actually maybe it would ). I was just using it as an example of how there is very little variety here and to point out just how homogeneous the culture is.

 

[Amargo]

how there is very little variety here and to point out just how homogeneous the culture is.

I really would hate the day when you find the same food in every big city of the World. THAT would be homogeneous and would kill much of the fun I found in traveling. The 'Argentine' cuisine is good, with lots of Spanish, Italian and local influence, the problem is the dishes served in restaurants are more or less the same and that due to inflation and the unpredictable nature of the Argentine economy is really difficult for many restaurants to survive without buying as cheap as they can.
It would be good if there were Argentine restaurants cooking properly high-quality Argentine food.

 

[syngirl]

I agree with Amargo -- but unfortunately it's already happening -- it used to be that you travelled to different places and things were disarmingly different... now a lot of the time it's ho-hum -- especially when it comes to going into a shop to purchase anything like food or pharmaceuticals. Remember when it used to be that you'd go to a foreign country and just buying a shampoo was a bit of an adventure, now it's Pantene the whole world over...

Holden -- part of the roots of the obesity epidemic in North America is the availability of pre-prepared foods. One of the joys of living in Argentina is returning to proper home cooking. You can get every type of food you want in Argentina, you just have to be willing to cook it for yourself. You can't be lazy like in the States and pick up packaged everything and have dinner in 20 mins. You can enjoy a huge range of flavours, but you have to learn to cook.

Maybe that's why so many people here do eat the same old standards night after night, because they can't be assed to put in the effort to make something different, but I've lived here over 5 years and we eat a huge variety of food in our house, and we eat tonnes of spices and variety of exotic foods. I make up loads of curries and freeze them so that I can indeed have dinner on the table during the week in 20 mins, but you have to make some effort. Tonight I'm probably going to make angelhair pasta with prawns in a Thai curry sauce -- it's super fast, fresh, spicy, have to go pick up the pasta on the corner and the prawns from Barrio Chino but getting there on my bike also is my exercise time for the day so I kill two birds with one stone...

 

[Delight]

I agree with Amargo -- but unfortunately it's already happening -- it used to be that you travelled to different places and things were disarmingly different... now a lot of the time it's ho-hum -- especially when it comes to going into a shop to purchase anything like food or pharmaceuticals. Remember when it used to be that you'd go to a foreign country and just buying a shampoo was a bit of an adventure, now it's Pantene the whole world over...

Holden -- part of the roots of the obesity epidemic in North America is the availability of pre-prepared foods. One of the joys of living in Argentina is returning to proper home cooking. You can get every type of food you want in Argentina, you just have to be willing to cook it for yourself. You can't be lazy like in the States and pick up packaged everything and have dinner in 20 mins. You can enjoy a huge range of flavours, but you have to learn to cook.

Maybe that's why so many people here do eat the same old standards night after night, because they can't be assed to put in the effort to make something different, but I've lived here over 5 years and we eat a huge variety of food in our house, and we eat tonnes of spices and variety of exotic foods. I make up loads of curries and freeze them so that I can indeed have dinner on the table during the week in 20 mins, but you have to make some effort. Tonight I'm probably going to make angelhair pasta with prawns in a Thai curry sauce -- it's super fast, fresh, spicy, have to go pick up the pasta on the corner and the prawns from Barrio Chino but getting there on my bike also is my exercise time for the day so I kill two birds with one stone...

I am guessing most people who move to BA find one of the attractive sides of BA that you can eat out for about 30-40 peso.

Not everybody is interested in cooking every day and go through the supermercado hassle regular

BA would be much better for those kind of people if there was more choice or even if the things that are on offer were good(Pasta's and pizza's especially)

 

[BROOKLYN]

I agree with Amargo -- but unfortunately it's already happening -- it used to be that you travelled to different places and things were disarmingly different... now a lot of the time it's ho-hum -- especially when it comes to going into a shop to purchase anything like food or pharmaceuticals. Remember when it used to be that you'd go to a foreign country and just buying a shampoo was a bit of an adventure, now it's Pantene the whole world over...

Holden -- part of the roots of the obesity epidemic in North America is the availability of pre-prepared foods. One of the joys of living in Argentina is returning to proper home cooking. You can get every type of food you want in Argentina, you just have to be willing to cook it for yourself. You can't be lazy like in the States and pick up packaged everything and have dinner in 20 mins. You can enjoy a huge range of flavours, but you have to learn to cook.

Maybe that's why so many people here do eat the same old standards night after night, because they can't be assed to put in the effort to make something different, but I've lived here over 5 years and we eat a huge variety of food in our house, and we eat tonnes of spices and variety of exotic foods. I make up loads of curries and freeze them so that I can indeed have dinner on the table during the week in 20 mins, but you have to make some effort. Tonight I'm probably going to make angelhair pasta with prawns in a Thai curry sauce -- it's super fast, fresh, spicy, have to go pick up the pasta on the corner and the prawns from Barrio Chino but getting there on my bike also is my exercise time for the day so I kill two birds with one stone...

sounds yummy the thai curry sauce! mind sharing the recipe??