Food for thought, and tastiness.

...and flavor. It's my last day in Argentina, I almost can't believe it. I loved it here, and I haven't even blogged about my times in BsAs and Rosario yet! But it's only fitting that I blog about some of the things I will miss the most...

I like the food here. It’s not a secret that steak is good. But here, as you may have heard, it’s really good. Great, perhaps. Tasty for sure. And also decently priced, ranging from about $12-25 USD for a really good steak. Bife de Chorizo is the standard (sirloin), along with lomo (tenderloin) and ojo de bife (ribeye). Fries, on the other hand, are quite expensive, usually about half the price of the steak or more. But they make good buddies. Here’s my collection of Argentine steaks.

 

Asados - Argentinian for BBQ. Usually an assortment of meats and other grilled goodies put together for your enjoyment.

Parillada - Mixed Grill - Beef short ribs, tripe, heart, liver, chorizo and blood sausage. (Bonus bife de chorizo's on the side).

Hostel Asado - Salad, Cold/Hard Rice, fried potato slices, chorizo, beef and chicken

Patagonian Lamb, Chorizo and Beef

Then there’s burgers, which are made with the same high-quality Argentine beef that makes their steaks famous.

Milanesa (breaded and fried veal or beef) is another classic menu item. You can get it plain, a caballo (with a fried egg or two), or Nepolitana – covered in melted cheese, ham, and tomato sauce. There’s also Suprema, which is the chicken version of milanesa. It’s usually more expensive, but it’s good. The taste is good. The flavor of the taste is good.

Empanadas are great for a meal (if you have 3 or more) or a snack (1-2). You can find these ANYWHERE, and they’re never more than $1-2 USD each if you’re not looking for special ingredients. They can come fresh out of the oven or be heated in the microwave, and even if they’re not great, they’re never bad. Always a good, cheap option for food.

 Colombian version - fried. Prepared and served with fried rice by the maintenance man at the hostel.

Here’s a collection of other sandwiches – they usually serve the same kinds at every restaurant: Milanesa (chicken or beef), grilled chicken, choripan (grilled chorizo sausage on crusty bread, generally with egg, chimichurri - the best condiment ever - and papas). Classic ham and cheese is also popular, but I never order it. If you want ham and cheese on a sandwich, just order any other sandwich “completa”, which indicates to top your burger/chicken/chori with melted cheese, a slice of ham, and lettuce/tomato. Hot dogs, or panchos, can be as cheap as empanadas if you want it with ketchup and mayo, but usually you splurge for extra fancy salsas (salsa golf – the equivalent of kecthup and mayo mixed and other fancy mayo’s), papas and eggs.

Choripan from Parilla Mi Suenos (Carrito) en BsAs- the best 11 Pesos ($2.50 US) you can spend.

Milanesa completo (con jamon y queso) from the Shell Station in Rosario. Yes, it was still kind of tasty.

McDonald’s is basically it’s own food group here, and we eat it often. Not only because the workers are generally good-looking girls and their customers are generally good-looking girls or because it’s super-expensive compared to the US, but because they have the goods: old school early-90’s fried McChicken patties. Typical combos (small size) start around $10 USD, and their dollar menu is closer to $2.

 CBO - Chicken Bacon Onion - Big fried chicken patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, bacon bits on bun, fried onion pieces, special sweet sauce. FLAVOR of TASTE.

$10USD Value meal

Pizza - Nothing incredibly special, but yet still so good. The standard pizza here is "muzza" or mozzeralla - lots of cheese, very little sauce, and 1 whole green olive per slice. My favorite is anything with palmitos (palm hearts) and salsa golf, and hopefully with fried or boiled eggs and bacon.

Panceta y Huevo - Bacon and Egg

Alfajores are also popular, but I’ve never really been a big fan. I’ll eat them if they’re given out for free (on buses/planes, in hostels or by friends), but they’re just OK. Too much hype for these cookies, since they have fancy stores dedicated to them and literally 30-40 varieties and brands for sale at any market or kiosko (corner convenience store).

And who could forget medialunas – small croissants with sweet glaze, the ubiquitous Argentinian breakfast food. Most hostels include free breakfast, and almost all will have medialunas and other bread for their offering. Even if I don’t like them very much, I’ve probably eaten around 100 of these since getting to this country.

Sides - Potatoes and Salad. Potatoes are almost always in fries (with many varieties) or pure (mashed potatoes). They always go good on the side of a steak/burger/milanesa, but they can sometimes cost as much as 3/4 the price of a steak for an order of papas. Salad usually consists of lechuge, tomate, cebolla y zanahorias. Dressing? Not many choices here -  standard with any salad come 4 bottles: Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil and Vinegar.

Drinks:

Non-alcoholic: My favorites are always coke and any juice/drink that is pear flavored. Aquarius Pera has been my staple drink of choice.

Alcoholic: Even if it took a while, I’m finally aboard the Fernet y Cola wagon. These drinks will pack a punch without giving you a hangover in the morning (since Fernet was originally a health tonic before they added alcohol). Quilmes beer is the Budweiser of Argentina, except that I like it a lot and it’s never that cheap in bars.

And last but not least, Helados (Ice Cream)! It’s not that cheap if you want the good stuff, but on average it’s way better than anything you can get in the states. Baskin Robbins got nothing on Freddo. Dulce de Leche, in any of its 20+ versions available, is always my standard order. Plus the milkshakes are crazy good since they’re made with the same quality ice cream.

And with that, I'm off to Colombia! Coming soon - working in Argentina, More Buenos Aires and Rosario!!!