What Food From Your Home Country Did The Argentinians Ruin?

[Girino]

Isadora, it's impossible to give a serious reply to the above statement, but if it makes you feel better about yourself then good for you.

I am Piedmontese. by the way...

I am from Lombardy, but spent most of my life in Piedmont (so glad I left).
As an Argentinian user of this forum explained earlier, here the quick fix becomes a permanent fix. And the workarounds become the norm.
They make BIG things here, things that I haven't see in Italy, but once they stop working, they're left the way they are.

If you have had different experiences, I am very glad for you. But I cannot understand why people wouldn't go for the best fix in the long run.
If a sidewalk is missing tiles, it stays that way forever. If a pot handles falls off, but they can still manage to use the pot, they won't throw it. If a towel has a hole (however big) but you can still manage to dry yourself with it, they won't throw it away. If a thing becomes black with use over the years, they'll keep it that way. They made turnstiles with microchip capability for the SUBE card, but then they realized that the fare would differ depending on the distance the passenger is traveling to, so everybody enters from the open slot. They make free WiFi at the train stations, but when it stopped working, nobody did intervene to fix it.

That I cannot understand. Great ideas, innovative stuff, and total lack of maintenance.

 

[Noruega]

When it comes to Dutch cuisine theres not much to ruin really, and there arent many of us in Argentina anyway. We make nice cookies though. I have a friend from Argentina that lived in Holland for a while. We were talking about food and sweets specifically when at almost the same moment i said 'I hate that you put dulce de leche in everything', when she went 'i hate that you have to put cinnamon in everything!'. I suppose if they get their hands on some stroopwafels (waffles with syrup in the middle) in Argentina, theyll start stuffing them with dulce de leche too.

Hehe, this applies to Norway as well! We might do fish better, but that also has to do with the varieties and availability. And anybody who has been to Norway can probably attest to the fact that the cuisine is rather blah and that anything you eat out is extremely expensive, so you except something amazing and more often than not, it is not... Can't think of anything Norwegian that has been ruined here. One thing of ours they definitely do better, bacalo, but I guess that comes from Spain and Portugal more than Argentina.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Hehe, this applies to Norway as well! We might do fish better, but that also has to do with the varieties and availability. And anybody who has been to Norway can probably attest to the fact that the cuisine is rather blah and that anything you eat out is extremely expensive, so you except something amazing and more often than not, it is not... Can't think of anything Norwegian that has been ruined here. One thing of ours they definitely do better, bacalo, but I guess that comes from Spain and Portugal more than Argentina.

And lutefisk?

 

[PhilipDT]

Stroopwafels are quite different though. Much thinner and with a layer of syrup between them:

No toppings, although they have serve as a topping of a cup of tea or coffee.

I had never heard of stroopwafels before this post and just a day after seeing it I just happened to come across some.

 

[internationalguy]

I had never heard of stroopwafels before this post and just a day after seeing it I just happened to come across some.

where?

 

[mmoon]

Not sure if it made it on the list already because there are a million answers to this post, but the brownie mix in Argentina is the worst (yes, I know I really should be making them from scratch, but the flour just isn't the same either and also I am lazy). Trader Joe's brownies forever!!!

Any advice on the best flour for cookies, cakes, etc?

 

[Crema Americana]

I think people have to remember too that Argentina isn't a very rich country and isn't as developed as other parts of the world. While they did have heavy influence from Spain and Italy, many things just didn't make the transition... or were lost or stifled due to economic difficulties. Lack of education and cheap shortcuts add up. I'm afraid nothing was really done to help the farming and small-town communities in the country's development -- el interior was very poor, and still is. Lack of industry (or expensive industry) keeps people from adopting more quality practices. For instance, cooking with olive oil isn't done nearly as much as it should be being an olive producing country. I don't know many Argentines' private cooking practices, but my parents in law think olive oil is "gross." Blasphemous! A Spaniard or Italian would never say that. I know olive oil is around and easy to find, but it's just not the same quality either.

My father in law came from Russia and lived in Paraguay for a time with his family - there were different communities (Russians, Japanese, Germans, etc) living in this place that seemed a bit like the wild west from his stories. No real law. People stuck to their own community and lived as best they could using the knowledge and tools they brought with them on the boat. He made me laugh when he said "the locals didn't even know how to make cheese."

Sometimes too I think Argentines are somewhat childlike. Fish sticks, pasta, pizza, and milanesas instead of real food. It's like the kid's menu all the time. Little salad, lots of the unhealthy stuff (processed cheese, breaded everything) with Coke. I guess like kids too they stay skinny because they're finicky eaters and tend to have a lot of nervous energy.


And Argentines don't throw anything away because it's too expensive to replace. In the US especially we have this idea that if it's broke, throw it out and buy a new one. Here that's just not an option for the majority of people.

 

[Girino]

I just want to share with you that last night I made peperonata on request of my bf.... And they added queso rallado on top. Wheeew!

 

[Joe]

I just want to share with you that last night I made peperonata on request of my bf.... And they added queso rallado on top. Wheeew!

I'd fry up some chorizo and onions and mix that in if you have any leftovers!

 

[Jaredberryman]

Isadora, that hasn't been my experience with my wife's family. My mother-in-law cooks Argentine food, but she knows where to get good ingredients and makes it well. Although she does make Argentine food, she makes it very carefully. For instance, when she makes milanesa, she buys very good quality meat, cuts them into little pieces, beats them out thin (but not too thin), and then lets them marinate in garlic and parsley and egg overnight or for several hours. She then beats on the bread and fries them. Simple food, but incredibly good (the best milanesa I have had here far and away, I can guarantee just about all these expats would eat about ten of them) you. Not everyone can cook well, and that is just the reality of life here just like it is everywhere else. Some are good at cooking, others not so much.