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Before heading to Argentina, we were anticipating a month of steak suppers (and not much besides).
When dining out in BA, you head for a parrilla (pronounced parija). Sure, there are other restaurants offering international cuisine, but in this city of 13 million (of the 40 million total) steak is the speciality.
Every cut imaginable is offered: sirloin, entrecote, fillet, rump, and our favourite, entrana (onglet or skirt). Beef does appear on menus in the Lake District, in Mendoza and I'm sure we'll see it in Salta. But away from the big city the range of options is more limited.
Apparently the average Argentinian consumes 70kg of beef each year. This statistic masks the reality; beef consumption is an affluent (and more urban) activity. In many parts of this enormous country (15 times larger than the UK) beef cattle won't thrive. The land beyond the pampas, which lies to the south and west of BA, simply doesn't support the lush grazing pasture preferred by an Aberdeen Angus.
The well documented economic difficulties of the last decade continue to make their mark. Life is tougher than it was in the 90's. Transportation of goods is almost entirely by road. The nation's diet appears to be influenced by region, season and wealth. This in turn influences both the variety and availability of fruit and vegetables. It's not unusual to be served beans or sweetcorn that have been preserved and stored in the deep freeze.
Newly arrived in BA, we headed into the San Telmo district for our first supper. The guys on the front desk at Hotel Moreno had suggested a couple of their favourites. It's worth saying at this point that it was a rainy evening and we had decided to skip the leisurely stroll which in other cities has (usually happily) led to the discovery of a great restaurant. On this rainy Tuesday evening we set out at 8ish in search of a pre-dinner drink. Clutching a street map and a handwritten note of two parrillas, off we went. No self-respecting Argentinian sits down for supper until around 9pm. BA is a pretty easy city to find your way around as it's laid out on a grid system. Counting the blocks as we walked into the heart of San Telmo, we clocked a corner site which looked promising for our drink. The welcoming lights of a former dispensary, Bar Seddon, beckoned. High ceilings, wood panelling and mirrors; glass fronted cabinets hold highly coloured bottles of liqueurs. A delightful and helpful bartender mixed a very fine gin and tonic (two, in fact) which fortified us ahead of our venture into what turned out to be an exceptional parrilla, La Brigada. We spoke to her in Spanish and it was only as we left and she admired Jane's pale blue "kag in a pack" in perfect English that we realised how polite she'd been.
At La Brigada, we were presented with hide-wrapped menus by a delightful waiter. The walls were covered with football memorabilia. At a neighbouring table three young execs were tucking into steak and fritas.
We swiftly ordered entrana, preceded by our first empanada humida. Delicious, and the first of many tastings. David ordered flan for pudding which is traditionally always accompanied by a generous dollop of dulce de leche, Argentina's most popular sweet. (Judging by its flavour, Jane expects this could be made at home by gently simmering a tin of Nestle's condensed milk for a couple of hours, cooling and then carefully prising off the lid with a can opener. Anyone up for this?)
We had to try some of Argentina's best known wine, and ordered a splendid tasting Malbec.
We felt very well fed and watered!
Two evenings later (we'll pass over the tourist grub at the tango show), we headed across town to trendy Palermo Viejo, where we dined at Don Julio. This felt to us like a destination favoured by non-locals, an impression borne out by the stickers in the window that boasted of its rating in Time Out. A friendly waiter quickly brought empanadas for two. We tried the well-seasoned beef and humida (mashed sweet corn) versions, baked rather than fried. Entrana followed with salad, more fine Malbec and yet more research into flan. It is quite yummy.
Breakfast is not a big deal over here; tart orange juice, sweet medialunas and frothy cafe con lecche have set us up for the day on most mornings. In BA we discovered two fine cafes for a light lunch or restorative te con limon, La Biela in the upmarket district of Recoleta and the Richmond, on Florida (a frenzy of pedestrians) in the Microcentro.
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