Typical Argentine meals
Beef is so tempting in Argentina that even vegetarians have been known to succumb to its wiles.
The best way to sample it is at an asado, which refers to both a barbecue as well as a traditional way of grilling beef.
It's the most important social event in Argentina, bringing together friends and families every weekend. While an asado at an Argentinan's home is the most legitimate experience, some restaurants serve the next best thing a parrillada, which is a small portable grill complete with glowing coals that keeps cuts warm.A classic restaurant with really good meet is Siga la Vaca in Puerto Madero, they offer an all inclusive menu with drinks included siga la vaca
You also have Rodizio in the same area which offer a large variety of meat rodizio
This dish is prepared throughout the country’s regions particularly in the winter. This sweet-and-savory dish always includes stewed beef; onion; tomatoes; fresh starchy vegetables like corn, squash, or sweet potatoes; and the unusual addition of fruit such as peaches (canned in the colder months), pears, or grapes. Argentineans traditionally prepare carbonada inside a whole pumpkin. The contents are added and the whole pumpkin is baked in the oven or over hot coals. As with much of creole cuisine in Latin America, every home and cook have its own variation of this dish with different ingredients. The most important component beyond the flavors is the soupy nature. If the liquid disappears, it’s not truly Carbonada.
Argentina’s Favorite Sauce, Chimichurri is an uncooked sauce used principally on grilled meat. Available in both green (chimichurri verde) and red (chimichurri rojo) varieties. Food historians think that chimichurri was invented by gauchos to flavor meat cooked over open fires. Try this sause in Costanera Sur, they are plenty of "foodtrucks" called "Carritos" which offered very good and cheap burgers, beef or grilled meat, the majority propose home made chimichurri sauce to add on the meat. Very good!!
Pizza in Argentina is another of the nation’s customs brought and adapted by Italian immigrants.
Traditionally, the Argentine pizza comes with a thicker crust and spongier base than the Italian pizza. It exists three varieties: masa alta (thick dough), al molde (thinner and crunchier dough) and media masa (a combination of the two). Regardless of your choice, expect about an inch of cheese? traditionally mozzarella, sprinkled with compulsory green olives and the toppings of your choice. The porteño is, however, slowly maturing to accommodate new tastes.
The classic pizza menu will offer: mozzarella (or muzza), which is similar to a Margherita but with more cheese; Napolitana, the muzza with added garlic and tomato; Calabrese, with the ubiquitous chorizo; and cuatro queso (four cheese). Typical toppings include anchovies, blue cheese, boiled egg, mushrooms, red pepper or more olives.
Another icon of Argentine pizza is the fugazzeta, a slice of pizza with a cheese-filled crust topped with caramelized onions.
In Buenos Aires, you will see people eating their pizza with extra piece of bread. This is fainá, an Italian-origin flatbread made from chickpea flour. It’s good as a starter but in Buenos Aires it’s eaten as a topping to create pizza a caballo (horseback pizza).
To eat a good pizza in BA, the classic of all classics is the Pizzería Güerrín (Corrientes 1368, Centro). Since being founded by two Genovese immigrants in 1931, Güerrín has become a Corrientes institution, popular with theatergoers and workers on their lunch break. The signature pizza is the mozzarella, which arrives overflowing with melted cheese plus toppings of your choice. It’s busy and rowdy, but you’ll find some quiet in the upstairs salon.
Matambre is a typical and savory Argentine staple consisting of flank steak (beef, or pork) prepared on the grill, in the oven, or boiled and stuffed with egg and vegetables. Matambre actually comes from the word mata (kills) and hambre (hunger) and got its name because the thin flank steak, when placed on a grill, cooks faster than any other cut of meat. Pieces are sliced off and eaten straight from the grill, slaking hunger until the other, thicker cuts are finished. And that should give some idea of the all-day, slow and steady meat-fest that a traditional Argentinean asado can be.
Empanadas: After the meat and pizza, a trip to Buenos Aires is not complete without empanadas. Every region of Argentina has its own special recipe which, the locals will assure you, is better than any other empanada out there. Recipes for empanadas have been found from as early as the start of the 16th century. Since their arrival in Argentina some centuries ago, empanadas have become a fast–food staple in Buenos Aires. They can be easily found in little takeaway pizzerías all over the city as well as in many restaurants. A typical Argentine empanada is made with a flour-based dough (rather than maíz, or corn) and some of the most common kinds are: Ground beef, cubed beef, chicken, ham and cheese, ham and onion, spinach, and humita (sweet corn with white sauce). The fillings often include other ingredients such as peppers, onions, hard-boiled eggs, and olives. Empanadas can be either baked (Salta-style) or fried (Tucuman-style). If you want to try some delicious empanadas in Buenos Aires, we recomend you "El Gauchito" in San Telmo Av. Independencia 414, C1426BTB CABA - Teléfono: 011 4300-8783.
A hearty stew, locro is a national dish traditionally served on May 25, the date marking Argentina's May Revolution.
Made from white corn, beef or pork, tripe and red chorizo, as well as other vegetables including white beans, squash and pumpkin, and seasoned with cumin and bay leaf, this tasty meal in a bowl is an ideal winter warmer.
It can be ramped up with a dash of quiquirimichi, a hot salsa made from paprika, spring onion and chili.
Another Argentinian dish with Italian influence is milanesa, known as escalope in the rest of the world.
Usually made from silverside -- a round of beef from the outside of the leg -- or chicken breast, the meat is hammered down to a thin cut before being bathed in breadcrumbs, then either fried or baked.
Toppings, however, raise this dish's excitement levels.
A caballo (on horseback) means topped with a fried egg, a la napolitana ups the ante with cheese and tomato sauce, while a la suiza uses gruyere.
Larger appetites should order completa, with ham, cheese and tomato sauce. Best accompanied with French fries and a token salad.
Argentina loves its Fernet, a bitter Italian liquor. To some palates, the incredibly bitter Italian liquor is worse than cough syrup. Bizarrely though, in Argentina it's so popular that the country now consumes more than 75% of all Fernet produced globally. And since the drink is traditionally mixed with Coca-Cola in an ice-filled glass, it also contributes to making Argentina one of the planet's highest Coke consumers. Fernet owes its unconventional taste to a top secret recipe that involves about 40 different herbs including saffron, rhubarb, cardamom, myrrh, chamomile, aloe and gentian root.
Dulce de leche, or literally “sweetness of milk” is the one thing that is present in almost all of Argentina’s households. Made of sweetened milk, it has a taste similar to caramelized sugar and the colour of dark camel, and is used in many recipes, as a side, a topping, or simply eaten pure straight from the open jar. Some Argentinians would argue that licking dulce de leche (caramelized milk and sugar sauce) from a spoon is a meal in itself.However, this sweet and sticky salsa usually accompanies desserts such as flan.
A better invention is dulce de leche-flavor helado.
Any ice-cream parlor that didn't stock it would soon go out of business; the bonus is that Argentinian ice-cream is thick and creamy, giving Italian gelato a decent run for its money.
You cannot visit Argentina without trying MATE, Mate is a traditional, caffeine-containing herbal drink. According to the Argentine law, Mate is even considered Argentina's national drink. You will meet one or the other Argentinian strolling around with a thermos bottle in his hand. Friends will meet in the park to have a cup of mate together. Make sure to say "gracias" only if you really had enough Mate!
