Thursday, February 23, 2012

Notes on Porteño Culture #6: More food


1.      Chipas—OH MY GOD. These are little balls of bread with the cheese baked in. THEY ARE PERFECT.
2.      Parilla/asado—These grills have all different kinds of meats (predominantly beef). If I understood the cuts and had a menu, I would explain them, but I’ve only eaten at one once. Best beef of my life. Argentine beef isn’t a myth.
3.      Provoleta—Grilled cheese. Not like a grilled cheese sandwich though. Just a straight up hunk of melted cheese that’s still kinda solid too. It’s not that it’s gross…it’s just…why? So greasy. And you can’t even ignore the greasiness because there’s no bread or sauce or crackers that comes with it.
4.      Alfajore—This is perhaps Argentina’s most deliciously sinful creation. In addition to their carb-centric diet, their national sweet treat is the alfajore. An alfajore consists of a basic shortbread cookie with a thick layer of dulce de leche in the center (see #2 for an explanation of this) topped off with another cookie. Some stop there, but many are coated in chocolate after. They are delicious. And dangerous…
5.      Polenta—This is hard to explain because it comes in many different forms. It is a corn powder that you can cook with water to create a paste from which many dishes can be created. It has a very mild corn flavor and as long as you’re ok with its somewhat grainy texture, it’s pretty good. You can have it plain (kind of like mashed potatoes), with cheese, sauce, grilled, fried…it’s the chicken of corn. 

No comments:

Post a Comment