Jun 26
If any of you remember, we walked into Chile way back on January 28! Since then, we have had a great love affair with this country. Chile has some of the friendliest, most interesting people. People who are innately curious and who offer much in terms of their culture and of course their food! Let's take a walk down Chilean food memory lane.
So we didn’t just road trip our way through the northwest snapping photos of the amazing scenery. We also ate. A lot. Prior to our journey, I had read about the unique cuisine of the Andan north of Argentina. So I knew to expect specialties like humitas, tamales, llama stews and other hearty dishes like locro and carbonada. While visiting this region, I made it a point to try all of these local dishes, as well as take notes comparing empanadas from Tucuman up to Salta (very different in style). It was a difficult task but a tasty one that I was certainly up for!
If you are strolling around Colonia del Sacremento for the day and want a break from your standard meat-filled lunch, then you should try …….The menu is very limited to sandwiches but they are all made with fresh, thoughtful ingredients and on fresh bread from a nearby baker. The best part of this place, however, is the beautiful interior, tranquil garden and friendly owner.
Did you know you all have an inner gaucho? Well you do and I recently discovered mine. In case you don't know, gauchos are the South American version of the North American cowboy. Riding over the pampas on their horse with no name, the nomadic gauchos lived their lives by hunting cattle. Much like the cowboys, guachos were thought to be the honest, strong, silent types, but proud and capable of violence when necessary. Gauchos often carried a faćon (ginormous, sharp knife) tucked into their pockets and they often used only their faćon for eating. They ate, almost exclusively, meat. Even though I am a former vegetarian, I long to be a gaucho. Waving around my faćon, eating my beef and laying in the sun. I finally had the chance.
I am so behind in writing my posts! We had some technical difficulties with connections and honestly, we spent a lot of time just relaxing. As I write this, we are still in Uruguay but will be leaving tomorrow to head back to Buenos Aires for two more days. We spent an amazing time here and I really fell in love with this country. But more on that later, for now I want to tell you all about some of the foods I tried in Buenos Aires before too much more time passes!
When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we were hungry for still more beef. I did a little searching and found La Cabrera. It's a pretty touristic place but it doesn't really matter when the beef is so good.La Cabrera is not a typical, old fashioned parilla. You cannot see the grill in front of you, it's more hidden in the kitchen. The place itself is whimsical and fun with hot air balloons hanging from the ceiling, plates shaped like cows and photos of cows showing their various cuts of meat. We arrived at 8:15, (which is very early to dine in Buenos Aires) and there was already a long queue and to top it off, we were without a reservation. But after about a 30 minute wait, we were seated.
Since Tigre was our first stop in Argentina, we couldn't wait to have some famous (and rightfully so) Argentinian beef. The ill-named TBC restaurant, did not disappoint. Although it's located on the Paseo Victorica, which is the main road that strolls along the waterfront, it is a bit under the radar and hidden, due to the giant ivy covered walls that surround it, concealing it slightly.
Behind the walls, revealed a grand mansion, tastefully decorated. We were led to the spacious porch where diners could sit and enjoy the exquisite beef while sipping their Malbec wine. Service was attentive and we were seated on the porch right away
We arrived to Tigre, Argentina on our first morning. We weren't really supposed to go to Tigre. We were going to go out about 2 hours to the Pampas, to an older city with a long history of gaucho culture (gauchos are the south american version of cowboys). But we were so tired from our travels and the supervolcano that took place before the travels, that we decided to go to a city closer. We had read about Tigre and it's proximity to Buenos Aires and how nice it was. So we decided to go.
Infused exposures 