Happy Friday! Today I’m sharing some information about food and food tours in Argentina. Did you know that Argentina is only second to the United States in immigration? Over 6.6 million people immigrated to Argentina. This far exceeds even Canada. As a result, food in Argentina is a veritable blend of Mediterranean dishes with indigenous. The national dish is asado, or barbecue. It is by far the most popular meal.
Carne in Argentina
The Native Americans, who lived in Argentina thousands of year before the European settlers, were agricultural. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they brought the cuisine of their home regions. The predominant settlers came from the Basque country, Galicia, and Catalonia. During the 19th century’s wave of immigration, Italians and Spanish immigrated to Argentina. They brought a newer style of Mediterranean food. Other immigrants came from Britain, Japan, and Germany.
Today, Argentinians consume nearly 220lb of or beef, per capita. Asado remains the most popular dish. In most regions of the country, carne, which means meat, simply means beef. However, in the southern parts of Argentina, lamb and goat are the main meats, not cow. Asado is typically grilled over an open fire and then sliced into thin strips of meat.
Traditionally, chimichurri, an herbal sauce, accompanies meat dishes.
Like in most other countries, butchers use the entire animal, making chorizo, chitterlings, mortilla, and sweetbreads.
Other Argentinian foods
Most Argentinian foods come from a blend of immigrant foods and native traditions. For example, empanadas are popular, as are breaded and fried meats. On the coast, fish dishes make up a significant portion of the menus. Sweet foods are also popular. Dulce de leche is commonly used as a topping for toast, in between shortbread cookies, or over ice cream.
Both the Italians and the British settlers brought now-popular traditions. The Italians introduced both gnocchi and gelato to the Argentine palate. Because cattle – and thus dairy – are a big part of the Argentine industry, you’ll find homemade gelato across the country. The Brits brought tea and teatime. In the cities, expect to find hotels and restaurants that offer traditional British tea, complete with teacakes, sandwiches with the crust cut off, and dollops of sweet cream.
Food tours in Argentina
In Buenos Aires, you can join a tour that will take you to multiple parrillas, or neighbourhood grills. The tour includes wine and meat/tapas at each restaurant, along with a little cultural or historical lesson on the dish. There are a couple of great neighbourhoods in BA, like San Telmo, La Boca, and La Ricoleta. All of these neighbourhoods are vastly different from one another and offer the traveller something unique.
Outside of Buenos Aires, most travellers head for Mendoza. This region, characterised by gently rolling hills covered in vineyards, is home to regional dishes like humita and matambre. While meat is still master here, you’ll also find a lot of seafood dishes, despite Mendoza’s location in the Andes Mountains! Mendozan cuisine, which is heavily Spanish and Italian, is also influenced by Creole spices.
Mendoza is also one of Argentina’s major wine regions, home to bold reds like Malbec. Food tours highlight phenomenal wine in addition to great food.
Further south, Patagonia attracts travellers headed for Antarctica or Chile’s glacier country, not people in search of haute cuisine. However, Patagonia is the heart of cowboy country, and meat is definitely master here. Travellers can stay at luxury estancias and dine on exquisite local meals prepared by top chefs. Tying an extended weekend on before or after your Antarctic trip is looking like a pretty good idea, isn’t it?
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We’ve crisscrossed the globe this week in search of the best food tours. From the Old World to the New World, I shared ideas for foodie tourism in Italy, France, Melbourne, Southeast Asia, and now Argentina. Want to learn more about food in another destination? Ask me – I will reach out to one of my amazing Virtuoso suppliers to learn more just for you!
|| Italy || Melbourne || France || Southeast Asia ||
