If you have heard anything at all about Argentina, I'm sure you've heard something at some point about the quality of the meat. The tales don't lie. I have had the pleasure of eating good steak once thus far- a tender, juicy filet that had been cooked in malbec-marinated carmelized onion sauce and served with a potato puff pastry. I've also had chorizo (sausage) on two different occasions, one of which was the night recently when I partook of the family-style meat feast you see to your right. The way the chorizo is eaten is the best part about it. Around here, there is a basket of bread on the table at every chorizo meal. Be careful though- if you eat a piece of bread before the meat comes, you've just robbed yourself of a choripán. Choripán is the beautiful marriage of a dinner roll and a piece of chorizo, with chimichurri on top for extra flavor- chorizo + pan (bread)= choripán. I had never had chimichurri before coming to Buenos Aires, but let me tell you, it will forever be in my kitchen after this. Every restaurant or household puts its own unique twist on the recipe, and every one I've tried has been heavenly. They all include an olive oil base with all kinds of smoky, herby flavors, some with a slightly sweet or tart undertone, some more salty than others- basically, if you haven't eaten chimichurri, do it. It's good on everything, I promise. The restaurants that specialize in all kinds of meat-cooking are called parrillas, and the general term for a meat cook-out here is "asado". There is a parrilla generally every block or two on any of the busiest avenues, and so far I've been lucky enough to hit good ones. We'll see what other carnivorous wonders I discover in more of them as the trip progresses.Another restaurant-related fact- the water here is perfectly drinkable and I fill my bottle from the tap daily, but almost every restaurant will refuse to serve "agua de la canilla" and tell you it's not filtered, it's not good, etc. My friends and I don't eat dinner out often because all of our families eat together at home most nights of the week, but on the Saturdays and special occasions we decide to find a good restaurant, we generally also decide to order a bottle or two of wine. House wine is always very reasonably priced, and when it's split between anywhere from 5 to 10 of us, we can each enjoy a glass or so. So, it follows that when the white wine-drinkers are with us, the wine comes in an ice-filled plastic or metal chiller. We've decided that, since we don't like the idea of spending 10-or-so pesos per bottle to have water with dinner, when we come to moments of great need, we put the melted ice in the wine chiller to good use. We order a few bottles between all of us first, but the combination of the flavors and the heat and humidity make it difficult to sit through a 2-3-hour meal and only drink a glass of water.
Another integral part of the Argentine lifestyle and cultural tradition is yerba mate. Mate is made from a blend of I'm not sure which herbs, but drinking it happens between the closest of friends and loved ones. The mate, dry, is put into the hollowed gourd (also called a "mate") until it nearly reaches the top. Mates are sold in abundance here- usually metal on the inside with an overlay of more metal or wood with a carving or design. After the herbs, the designated water-pourer (cebador) of the group pours hot, steaming water into the cup and lets the mate steep for a few seconds. Using a bombilla (straw) made of metal and with a built-in filter, each person takes the gourd, drinks the entirety of the water in it, and then passes it back to the cebador, who fills it with water for the next person. Everyone in the group takes a turn, each using the same bombilla and mate and a fresh addition of hot water. The flavor of mate takes a little getting used to, but for people who like strong coffee and tea, the result of the mostly-mate-part-water combination is something like a super-concentrated few sips of tea. It is very bitter, and some people like to add sugar, personally I like it plain- it also has enough caffeine to give the drinker a little boost. I'm on the lookout for a good mate spot to hole up and study in once the cooler weather starts to set in.
In other news, I have finally had my first alfajor, and today I was nearly robbed. An alfajor is something like two or three cake or soft cookie disks stacked on top of each other, layered with some kind of filling between, and the whole lot coated in chocolate. Sort of like a Hostess cupcake, only better and x50. The most common fillings are dulce de leche (cajeta if you've had it in Mexico), chocolate or white chocolate cream, or any of the above with peanut butter. You can find them in any street kiosko (c-store/food stand), and there are too many brands of them to count. The confiterías (bakeries) also home-make them. Last night I decided to pay a visit to the kiosko a few doors down from my building and bought a Milka dulche de leche alfajor. It was delicious, and you can bet I'll be having another one from time to time.Now to the almost-robbery- today after having gone to the Retiro bus terminal with my study abroad group to buy all our tickets for our trip tomorrow to Mar del Plata, the closest coastal and beach town, we took the subte back to our respective houses. It was one of the most crowded subte rides I've ever had- people packed like sardines and wedged in however they would fit. I wasn't paying much attention to the man who was standing in front of me until he started shifting through the people, acting like he wanted to get off at the next stop. About 10 seconds after he didn't in fact get off, I felt something sliding against my hip through the wall of my purse and looked down to see his hand reaching inside it. I jerked my bag away, and immediately after that we arrived at the next stop and he made a quick exit. The zipper had been closed, my hand over all of it except about two inches, my other arm with my books in it over the purse, and my eyes had been on the purse about 2 seconds before. Thankfully nothing was taken, and although I was shaken a bit, I'm also thankful I was able to learn just how easy it is to become someone's victim in a hectic situation without having to pay a hefty price. I will now be taking even more care than I was before with my belongings. If you ever pay a visit here, remember that the subte is the easiest place to be robbed. Even if it isn't crowded, keep your belongings close to you and under your eyes at all times.
My roommate and I have both had a brush with the pick-pocketers now, so hopefully our household is done with that. I probably won't be posting again for a few days because my group will be leaving for Mar del Plata tomorrow morning and returning on Tuesday, but I'll have more pictures and stories when I do! Have a happy, safe, and restful weekend!
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