Food

Food in Argentina

Asado

Asado is a specially prepared, slow cooked meat. We tried it in Ushuaia where you can see it cooking on an open fire, with lamb put on a triangular-shape structure made of sticks. This takes all fat from meat, which is fantastic for those who can’t eat fatty foods. We were in the best restaurant in Ushuaia, Argentina!

“Asado is a term used both for a range of barbecue techniques and the social event of having or attending a barbecue in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where it is an exceptionally popular dish. In these countries, asado is a traditional dish and also the standard word for “barbecue” (except in Brazil, where it is more commonly known as “churrasco”). An asado usually consists of beef alongside various other meats, which are cooked on a grill, called a parrilla, or an open fire.

Usually the asador begins by igniting the charcoal, which is often made of native trees, avoiding pines and eucalyptus as they have strong-smelling resins. In more sophisticated asados the charcoal is of a specific tree or made on the coal of recently burned wood, which is also commonplace when having an asado in a campfire.” /https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asado

Empanadas

Empanadas are awesome! With a great variety of fillings, they are no-oiled pastry. They remind Russian “pirozhki” a little bit, the ones made in an oven, not fried, but we found empanadas much more interesting for us. You will want to eat a lot of them! We tried them in a small Pizza Cafe next to a hotel near the Eziza airport in Buenos Aires. Empanadas were prepared in a wooden oven. It was to die for!

“Empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas are made by folding dough or bread with stuffing consisting of a variety of meat, cheese, huitlacoche, vegetables, fruits, and others.

The dough is made with wheat flour and beef drippings for the fillings which differs from province to province. Some places use chicken, and some places beef (cubed or ground depending on the region) spiced with cumin and paprika. Some other fillings are onion, boiled egg, olives, or raisins. Empanadas can be baked (Salta-style) or fried (Tucuman-style). It also can contain ham, fish, humita (sweetcorn with white sauce), or spinach; a fruit filling is used to create a dessert empanada. For the interior regions, they can be spiced with peppers.” / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada

Trucha

Awesomely prepared trout. We tried it in Ushuaia – the best!

Dulce De Leche

Dulce de leche reminds what we did in Russia in my childhood. You boil a can of condensed milk and in 3 hours you get a sweet thing that you can eat as is or spread on a piece of bread.

“Dulce de leche is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk. Literally translated, it means “candy made of milk” or “sweet made of milk.” / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche

Pionono

“In various South American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru, piononos are prepared using a dough made of flour, eggs, and sugar, which is baked in a thin sheet then rolled around a filling of dulce de leche sometimes with walnuts, or fruits like strawberries with Chantilly cream, or in the case of savoury piononos with York ham, cheese, tomato and mayonnaise, or a savory salad, such as ham salad with asparagus and lettuce, chicken salad or even tuna.” / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pionono