Although I will not be able to post pictures until I return to the states on Friday am, here are some highlights of my trip since my last post:
- Reconnecting with an old friend from my study abroad program and being able to meet all of her wonderful friends here. My good friend Maria moved back to Argentina after finishing college and has been working here ever since. During a wonderful meal at one of my favorite restaurants, Bereber, Maria told me all about her life here. She helped start a wonderful website, YoQueVos.com.ar, which sends out daily e-mails highlighting interesting restaurant, shops, and designers from around the city. It is such a treat to check out all of the hidden gems they have found in this massive metropolis of a city. While enjoying a wonderful chicken tagine filled with pungent olives and cured lemons accompanied by my favorite Viognier from the Escorihuela Gascon vineyard in Mendoza we reminisced about our wonderful study abroad days.
- Attending the opening of the Cuban art exhibit with Maria and a few of her friends at the MALBA museum. I had gone to the MALBA museum early on during my visit to Buenos Aires as it houses some wonderful modern art from Latin America. I had read about the Cuban exhibit on their website, and was disappointed when I arrived on my own to find that it had not opened yet. You can imagine how delighted I was when Maria invited me to the opening. After seeing the exhibit, and enjoying a couple of free glasses of Malbec we headed over to a casual dinner at a pizza place nearby called El Almacen de Pizzas. Of course, I had to order one of their empanadas before diving into a big pizza pie. I decided to order the BBQ Chicken pocket per the recommendation of one of Maria's friends. It reminded me of a a BBQ chicken pizza in an empanada, although their was no cheese, ha. It was a sweet BBQ sauce coating wonderfully cooked shredded chicken with glistening white onions weaved in throughout. After the empanada we all shared some Italian style thin crust pizza. It was a wonderful meal, and is always great to share a meal and wine with new friends.
- Meeting up with the Westridge interim trip group here in Buenos Aires. For those of you who dont know about my alma mater, Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena, each Spring the school offers what is called interim week. It is a week where students sign up for projects that teach them interesting new things that go beyond the normal classroom education. There is always a trip or two as options, and this year they brought 21 girls down for a 10 day trip to Argentina. Lucky for me, my old adviser and good friend Bonnie Martinez was one of the leaders. I decided to join in on a number of different activities with the group, mostly the meals! There were so many wonderful meals with the group, but some of the most memorable were definitely at El obrero in La Boca, where we had fresh Ravioli filled with cheese and squash in a home made tomato sauce. We enjoyed home made spinach pasta with fresh pesto at Desnivel. The pasta was to die for, and I could not help myself but finish the whole bowl. What made things even worse was that the waiters brought out some of the best chimichurri I have ever had in my life, so in addition to carbo loading up on some of the best pasta I have ever had, I downed multiple rolls doused in the restaurants perfectly balanced chimichurri. The last memorable meal with the group was on the 29th, national ñoqui day in Argentina , at a local family restaurant in San Telmo. At my table, most of us elected to order the home made ñoqui filled with cheese in a caprese sauce. As the plate was placed in front of me I was delved in. Expecting the heavier ñoqui I am used to having in the states, I was delighted when they were more like little cheese filled clouds. Each ñoqui was so delicate and so perfect. The caprese sauce was like a wonderful blend of fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil and melted mozzarella atop the massive plate of ñoqui clouds. There were other great memories with the group, to many to account here. I am so happy our paths crossed during my trip here.
- Returning to Marks Deli for some fresh salads in Palermo Soho. This place is has a number of wonderful fresh dishes, but more than anything it brings back so many memories from my study abroad days. After a day of shopping in the Palermo Soho area I decided to pop in for a lite lunch, a nice change of pace from the pasta, meat, empanada and ice cream diet I have become accustom to over the last few weeks. As I starred up at the menu on the big chalkboard I knew immediately that I would be ordering a fresh lemonade mixed with fresh mint leaves, a drink almost impossible to find in this city. I then decided on a salad with fresh greens, smoked salmon, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, avocado and a citrus vinaigrette. As I sat and watched the Buenos Aires elite wander by with their many shopping bags I enjoyed my fresh food.
- Eating ice cream almost every day since I arrived here. Ask anyone who has traveled to Buenos Aires and has tried the ice cream, and they will assure you that the ice cream here is the best in the world, beating out Italy's world renowned gelato. There are a few places that are well known, and I have tried every single one of them. Each one has similar flavors, a variety of dulce de leche flavors, banana split (banana ice cream with chocolate chips and dulce de leche swirled throughout), marscapone and chocolates of all kinds. Up until yesterday I was sure that Persicco was the best, but after venturing into Volta my mind was made up, Volta takes the cake. Serving ice cream here is like an art form, and each size cone or cup comes with two flavors, so deciding on flavors is much easier when you know you are going to get two. Although I usually get banana split without even thinking about it, I decided to try the Cafe Caramel, coffee ice cream with dulce de leche, and the coco, coconut ice cream with dulce de leche. I didnt want it to end. Creamy ice cream with the perfect amount of dulce de leche swirled in each flavor. After enjoying my cone filled with heaven I decided that would be my last ice cream here in Argentina on this trip. I want to remember those flavors as long as possible.
- Taking a trip to Mar de las Pampas with my host family. Last weekend we took a four hour drive out to a small beach town called Mar de las Pampas. We had rented a small cabin of a friend of Luciana and Alejandro's just a couple of blocks off the beach. It was such a beautiful place. The sandy roads weave through forest until you get to the beach. Through the tiny little roads the forest is filled with little mod cabins, they looked straight out of the 60s. The trip was not just great because of the scenery, but also because of the food. The first night we were there, we went to a small restaurant called La Casa del Mar. The meal started off with an appetizer of gambos al ajillo, big shrimp cooked in olive oil with garlic and herbs. The bowl of shrimp came out piping hot, and with a smell I could die for. There is nothing better than perfectly cooked garlic! After the shrimp came the meal. I ordered brochette of salmon. Two massive skewers came out filled with chunks of bright pink salmon, grilled shrimp, onions, peppers and squash drizzled with an herb cream sauce. Although everything was cooked to perfection and full of bright flavors, I could not make it through both skewers, I accepted defeat..... One of the other days we were there we took full advantage of the barbecue in the back yard of the cabin. Alejandro took control as our Asador and grilled up some chorizo for chori-pan (chorizo on bread), morcilla (blood sausage), short ribs and another cut that I cannot remember at the moment. As sides he grilled some whole russet potatoes and whole onions. There is not much more to say but it was a true Argentine grill, and it is hard to beat that! The other meal highlight was making empanadas for the family. I finally was able to show off my skills. Per usual I did not make the dough, but I did purchase a different type than usually, and was very pleased with the results. I made my traditional Argentine beef (without the raisins, because they are not fans of sweet and savory), and my spinach empanadas with home made bechamel. Although we had some issues getting the oven turned on, once the problem was resolved, we enjoyed my fresh baked pockets and I received the seal of approval from the critics I was most worried about, my Argentine friends. It was an all around wonderful weekend.
- Taking a delta tour with DeltaUnplugged. When I was looking up cooking classes I had not only come across the culinary tour I took earlier on in my trip, but also found out about this tour of the delta in Tigre, just outside of Buenos Aires. I woke up bright and early on a Wednesday morning to catch the train to Tigre so I could be there by 9am to catch my water taxi. After arriving to Tigre I caught my water taxi. As we weaved through the rivers for about 45 minutes I started to get very excited for the day ahead. Finally the boat driver yelled at "lo del suizo!" and I knew I had arrived. The boat pulled over to the dock and we were greeted by Ralph and Ana, our hosts for the day. The guests for the day were myself, two couples from the US and one couple from England who were here on their honey moon. After Ana gave us a brief history of their house and the island we all sat down for breakfast. Ralph, a former chef on large boats had made us three types of fresh baked bread served with home made marmalade and dulce de leche. My favorite bread was one that they described as a German braided egg bread, which I quickly deducted was a traditional challah..... After breakfast we all boarded their small sail boat for our 5 hour tour of the rivers. As we weaved around through the willow covered and papyrus lined channels we sipped grapefruit water. Ana continued to educate us on the area, watching carefully for local birds. Halfway through our ride we anchored ourselves in the shade, and Ralph and Ana prepared our lunch. For being on such a small boat, they put on an amazing spread. We had beef empanadas, squash quiche made with squash from their garden, cheeses, a wonderful avocado and corn salad, a crudité platter, a large sort of latke like potato dish and ralph coked up some chicken and steak on a travel grill he brought along board. It was an amazing lunch in the willow shade accompanied by a Malbec, no surprise there.... When we returned to their house Ana immediately handed each of us a bowl of ice cream. Ralph had made strawberry ice cream and ginger wasabi ice cream. The two flavors complimented each other so well and I really didnt want it to end. I hope to find ginger wasabi ice cream at home, or at least try to make it myself. Before heading back to the big city we sat and had mate with Ralph and Ana as they showed us their wedding pictures and old pictures of the house they bought back in 2002. It was another amazing day, full of new adventures, great food and new friends.
- The last meal here in BsAs was one of the best yet. I met up with Coby, one of the tour guides from the Westridge trip at La Peña del Colorado in Palermo. It is a small quaint restaurant with murals on the walls and simple wooden tables throughout. I had heard great things about the empandas, so of course had to order some. After we put in our order, I chose the cheese and onion, choclo (corn) and carne picante, the music started. Apparently they have live music every night. We were lucky enough to see a guitarist from Mendoza who played Spanish inspired songs. The highlight was when a young women went up and sang a couple of songs with him. The music was elevated by the pockets provided by the restaurant. The cheese and onion was gooey and melted in your mouth, the carne was traditional and had a nice bite, but the highlight was the choclo. Inside the light dough was a mixture of fresh corn, creamed corn and the essence of nutmeg. The nutmeg really brought the whole pocket together. After the empanadas I enjoyed a bowl of humita topped with butternut squash and goat cheese. The Humita was much like the choclo empanada. A perfect bend of fresh and creamed corn. The softness of the squash complimented the humita quite well, and the goat cheese just brought it all together. Between the perfect traditional food and the live music, I could not have asked for a better meal.
I am not sure what my last night here has in store, but I assure you I will report on the goings on along with posting pictures of all of the experiences described here in my empanada blog. If you are lucky, maybe some recipes will follow as well. See you back in the states!
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