What do American expats miss the most about living in America?

[Newman_ZA]

It’s good, especially quality of most ingredients,
but it is for many foreigners as others have said, bland and repetitive. Milanesa. Meat. Empanadas. Tartas. Pasta. Pizza. Ice-cream. Facturas. And for a treat something like Locro or Matahambre topped off by a familiar old flan. A typical Argentina menu reads more like the children’s menu where I am from (which in my opinion, when going to restaurants or dinner with my Argentine friends, some also tend to act like children in insisting on eating bland and familiar things and if it’s not perfectly bland they throw a tantrum complaining of too much salt/ pepper/ seasoning/ garlic etc.)

There is still hope though. The UK/ Australia/ NZ etc. used to have this kind of reputation for bland food too - now you walk into any Pret-a-Manger or rural supermarket and you’re guaranteed to find Vietnamese, Indian, Moroccan, Thai and many more culinary influences making their way into peoples everyday lunch and becoming “normal” food rather than “exotic” food. That’s why many foreigners here, especially those from more cosmopolitan places, may find the food scene a bit boring because it simply does not compare with the variety that exists abroad which they have grown up with or become accustomed to.

I know this is a BA forum but Argentina is more than BA. Up in Salta you get far more exposure to the Bolivian and Peruvian cuisines. It starts getting more spicy (thankfully) as you move north. A nice picante de pollo Boliviano really warms the heart.

I agree with most of what you said. Food is great but can get very samey. Granted though, Mendoza has a decent restaurant scene with some good variety and good exposure to indigenous foods and neighboring countries cuisines for cheap.

 

[Silvie]

Being free to use gold jewellery and my iphone virtually anywhere

 

[Redpossum]

I know this is a BA forum but Argentina is more than BA. Up in Salta you get far more exposure to the Bolivian and Peruvian cuisines. It starts getting more spicy (thankfully) as you move north. A nice picante de pollo Boliviano really warms the heart.

I agree with most of what you said. Food is great but can get very samey. Granted though, Mendoza has a decent restaurant scene with some good variety and good exposure to indigenous foods and neighboring countries cuisines for cheap.

Huh, you know, I had forgotten about Peruvian food. You're right, it can be good and spicy. I haven't found a Peruvian place I like here downtown, but when I lived in Las Cañitas, I often went to a place on Fitz Roy, called El Rey (Something), and the food there was GOOD. They had good chicken, and a wonderful lechón. There was a hugely fat woman in the kitchen, which is always a good sign.

Economic circumstances constrained me to move away from Cañas in 2018, but my four years there were good. It's a nice neighborhood for dining out, and the security is excellent; there is a cop on almost every corner. The trapitos were aggressively annoying, and it was noisy very late at night, but those were the only two negatives for me. Well, aside from the fact that it's a pricey neighborhood

 

[Rich One]

It’s good, especially quality of most ingredients,
but it is for many foreigners as others have said, bland and repetitive. Milanesa. Meat. Empanadas. Tartas. Pasta. Pizza. Ice-cream. Facturas. And for a treat something like Locro or Matahambre topped off by a familiar old flan. A typical Argentina menu reads more like the children’s menu where I am from (which in my opinion, when going to restaurants or dinner with my Argentine friends, some also tend to act like children in insisting on eating bland and familiar things and if it’s not perfectly bland they throw a tantrum complaining of too much salt/ pepper/ seasoning/ garlic etc.)

I'm sure that in the Florence-expat Forum people complain about the lack of variety in Italian food . Only Pizza, Pasta, ravioli, calzzoni , minestroni , and sometimes Canoli..!

 

[Rich One]

Huh, you know, I had forgotten about Peruvian food. You're right, it can be good and spicy. I haven't found a Peruvian place I like here downtown, but when I lived in Las Cañitas, I often went to a place on Fitz Roy, called El Rey (Something), and the food there was GOOD. They had good chicken, and a wonderful lechón. There was a hugely fat woman in the kitchen, which is always a good sign.

Economic circumstances constrained me to move away from Cañas in 2018, but my four years there were good. It's a nice neighborhood for dining out, and the security is excellent; there is a cop on almost every corner. The trapitos were aggressively annoying, and it was noisy very late at night, but those were the only two negatives for me. Well, aside from the fact that it's a pricey neighborhood

Red, as you mentioned in Las Cañitas there is a cop in every corner. However those cops are hired by the restos to prevent holdups in their premises, they don't care about locals security. They are too busy with their cell phones.

 

[Redpossum]

Red, as you mentioned in Las Cañitas there is a cop in every corner. However those cops are hired by the restos to prevent holdups in their premises, they don't care about locals security. They are too busy with their cell phones.

I lived there from mid-2014 to late 2018, and such was not my experience at all.

I saw the crew of cops delivered by what looked to my American eyes like a paddy wagon. The cops I saw were very alert, walking a beat and pausing to look around every half block or block, then continuing their beat.

There was also a very hard looking Sergeant, (or whatever they call a senior noncom in PFA), who walked around the whole neighborhood. That guy scared me a little the first time he gave that flinty-eyed cop look of professional interest, but he soon came to recognize me as a local, and after that his eyes just slid right over me. Those who have been around cops know what i mean. Their eyes tell the tale.

If the beat cops were being paid by a restaurant, I don't think they'd be patrolling the whole block like they did.

 

[Fiscal]

It’s good, especially quality of most ingredients,
but it is for many foreigners as others have said, bland and repetitive. Milanesa. Meat. Empanadas. Tartas. Pasta. Pizza. Ice-cream. Facturas. And for a treat something like Locro or Matahambre topped off by a familiar old flan. A typical Argentina menu reads more like the children’s menu where I am from (which in my opinion, when going to restaurants or dinner with my Argentine friends, some also tend to act like children in insisting on eating bland and familiar things and if it’s not perfectly bland they throw a tantrum complaining of too much salt/ pepper/ seasoning/ garlic etc.)

There is still hope though. The UK/ Australia/ NZ etc. used to have this kind of reputation for bland food too - now you walk into any Pret-a-Manger or rural supermarket and you’re guaranteed to find Vietnamese, Indian, Moroccan, Thai and many more culinary influences making their way into peoples everyday lunch and becoming “normal” food rather than “exotic” food. That’s why many foreigners here, especially those from more cosmopolitan places, may find the food scene a bit boring because it simply does not compare with the variety that exists abroad which they have grown up with or become accustomed to.

Such a perfect description. I've been back in the US several weeks now and notice "milanese" aka milanesa on ever children's menu here lol

 

[Fiscal]

Having now been in Miami two weeks and LA three weeks, here are the things that are (for me) better and worse about the US

Better:
Food - restaurants, supermarkets -- lots of variety, lots of super high quality fruits and vegetables, lots of different fish, lots of ethnic food

People -- tend to be friendlier than portenos, especially mexicans. new argie gf has already made tons of friends with people just exchanging numbers in the park

Cleanliness and organization -- most decent neighborhoods are clean with large well kept sidewalks, no trash on street

no chorros - can leave my wallet and computer on a table in a coffee shop unattended

Freedom -- easy to fly, rent a car, buy a car, get on the metro, and go to the beach, drive to the mountains, or fly three hours for a weekend trip

Lack of mosquitos and other bugs (LA only, mosquitos are aplenty in Miami)

Worse --

much more expensive, ubers, food, restaurants, rent, everything is 1000x more expensive. impossible to have a daily empleada, it would be $100 a day here. I paid $80,000 pesos a month in Buenos Aires for 5 days a week

medical system -- super slow, super cumbersome, same day appointments are an uber luxury, usually only see a physician assistant and not a doctor, an also way more expensive

people -- portenos are the most attractive people on earth, some are even nice to talk to

language -- definitely miss speaking castellano here

dogs - must be leashed, not many dog parks, no bosque de palermo

rules -- lots of rules (esp in California) that they strictly enforce. Argentina has lots of rules but most dont ever seem to be enforced and the gnocchis seem more chill than nazi bureaucrats in California

 

[Redpossum]

Such a perfect description. I've been back in the US several weeks now and notice "milanese" aka milanesa on ever children's menu here lol

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good milanesa. When I was a kid, we called it chicken-fried steak, and my mom or grandma beat it with a meat hammer to tenderize it before battering and breading it. Then she served it with what we called "country-style gravy". I was almost 40 years old before I learned the word "bechamel".

In any case, let's not wander into food snobbery, please. There's nothing at all wrong with old-fashioned midwestern cooking. Certainly I have modernized the old family recipes some; I use olive oil and butter in place of Crisco, for example. But those old recipes still yield good, tasty, nutritious food.

 

[sts7049]

new argie gf huh. you didn't learn your lesson did you!