While staying in the San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aries, we have been lucky to try some of the best steaks either of us have ever had.
On our first night in Buenos Aries we had dinner with my cousin Tracy. She has been living in Buenos Aries for a couple of months and is now heading down to Mendoza to work on a farm there. It was fun to see her again, and get some "insider" info on Buenos Aries and San Telmo. We are excited to see her in Mendoza too!
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We started off with a good steak and chorizo sausages at El Desnivel. Every restaurant has the most amazing chimichurri that I have ever had.
For Christmas day we stated off with some local cheeses (from a cheese company here in Argintina named Veronica!), olives, prosciutto and guacamole (yes a little weird, but they have great avocados and we do love guacamole!)
We then made our own steaks with mashed sweet potatoes and creamed spinach. Topped them off with a shallot red wine glaze. We ended with some roasted peaches on ice cream.
Of course we had some Malbecs! All of these were about $10 a bottle mostly from Mendoza, but we tried a Patagonia Malbec as well.
If there is a national food in Argentina, it is the steak. Rightly so as each steak we eat here is better than the last. I have heard that the true difference between Argentinian steaks and those you get in the rest of the world is how the cows are raised. Feedlots are still a rarity, and so the cows roam about eating grass making them healthier and the meat leaner and better tasting. Happy cows make... well, tasty steaks. The best steak we have had so far was at Gran Parrilla del Plata. We are actually going to go there again because it was so good!
These steaks were about $8. The legend is true... amazing steaks and red wine are cheap and plentiful in Argentina.
We also had grilled provolone with roasted red peppers and bacon...
Steaks are not the only great food out here. Near the National Eco Reserve park are tons of little shacks selling choripán. Choripán is a chorizo sausage grilled, sliced down the middle, then placed in a warmed baguette. Again, one of the best parts of a giant sausage sandwich is the chimichurri and other sauces that come with it. One of the more interesting condiments is mayonnaise with green onions. I have seen many a Porteño (or people from a port city, and what the general population in Buenos Aires likes to call themselves) slather on mayo on their choripáns and salchipapas (French fries with cut up hot dogs). Not bad, but I am sticking with the chimichurri.
Finally, it would be a crime not to mention the empanadas. My personal favorite is roquefort empanadas. The traditional empanada for this region is the carne with ground beef, a boiled egg, and green olives.
There is a very European influence here in Argentina and there are probably 4 fresh pasta stores within 4 blocks of our apartment. We made salmon ravioli with a Alfredo tomato sauce.
Our time in Buenos Aires is nearing an end to head to Uruguay then Patagonia. We are a quarter of the way through our trip, and we have loved having this apartment and beautiful city as our home base for a while.
What are these "steak" things you speak of? We don't have anything like this in Boulder. Are those made from tofu?
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Actually, those are making me very reminiscent of growing up in the midwest. They look amazing. What an adventure you two are having!
Keep posting... and keep the great photos coming!
D
YUM! You just made me so hungry!!
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