Topic # 3 – Food in Argentina
Steak: Yes, the beef is good. In fact, it’s far superior to anything that I had during my trip to northern and central Europe. It’s not quite up there with Kobe beef, but it’s good. In fact, I can’t say that it’s significantly better than the steak you get in good restaurants in the United States. The big difference, however, is that it is always good here. Always. I’ve had steaks in nice restaurants in Buenos Aires that I had to pay a pretty penny for ($15) and bife de chorizo (New York Strip) in smaller, more native restaurants that were cheaper ($4 - $6) and no matter where I’ve had it, it’s been outstanding. Even when I’ve bought it in the grocery store and brought it home and cooked it myself, I couldn’t ruin it. It’s that consistently good.
Empanadas: Like much of Latin America, you can find these everywhere in Argentina. They come filled with beef or chicken or ham and cheese, or vegetables, or other things. You can get them fried or not fried. Of course, I’ve had mine fried. They were greasy but good. All things considered, though, I’ve had empanadas that were just as good in Washington, D.C.
Sandwiches de Miga: For the uninitiated, Argentines typically eat four meals a day. Breakfast and Lunch are not significantly different here than in the United States and Europe, but there typically is a merienda around 4:00 or 5:00 and cena, which is a bigger meal, around 10:00. The merienda is usually a small meal with coffee and sandwiches de miga, which are thin sandwiches, sometimes toasted, sometimes not, with the crust cut off and various sandwich items between the bread. The few times I’ve had them, I’ve had jamon y queso. Nothing special, but I’ve heard it’s very Argentine, so I thought I’d mention it.

Fast Food: There are very few Argentine fast food chains from what I can tell. I’ve seen Havanna cafes all over the place, but I haven’t visited. From what I’ve seen, thought, they appear to specialize in coffee and small snacks, not unlike Starbucks though with a different atmosphere. There are McDonald’s and Burger Kings everywhere in this city. Also, though it doesn’t quite qualify as fast food, there are Pizzerias on virtually every corner up-and-down the major Avenidas.
Bread: The bread is horrible. I’m not a big fan of bread in the United States, but it’s worse here. If I want more bread, I’ll go back to Europe.

Mate: Pronounced mah-tay. Mate is the national drink of Argentina, as well as Uruguay. It is a caffeinated drink made from mixing dried yerba mate leaves with hot water. Typically, people drink it from a hollowed out gourd through a metal straw called a bombilla. Its taste is similar to Lipton tea, though it is significantly more bitter. Another thing that is typical with mate is that people typically drink it in a small group of friends, passing around the gourd not unlike people pass around a joint. (Or so I’ve been told.) I have, however, seen people drink it on their own as their morning caffeine vehicle of choice.

Beer: Everywhere that I’ve traveled, I’ve found some local beer that reminded me of Miller Light. Since I love me some Miller Light, that’s a good thing. Here, my beer of choice is Quilmes Cristal, which is a light Argentine beer that costs about 90 cents a liter in the grocery store. I’ve tried other Argentine beers, like Palermo, other versions of Quilmes and a few that I can’t recall off the top of my head, but Quilmes Cristal is my favorite. There are also a few European beers that seem particularly popular here like Stella Artois and Heineken. But those cost around $1.30 a liter, so . . .
That’s what I have for food here off the top of my head. I’ll probably write about others in future posts, but that’s it for now.
¡¡¡Quilmes!!!
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