Eating Customs and Food

The food in Argentina was quite delectable and I really enjoyed almost every meal that I had
there. A lot of the food that I had there I had never tried before and that was really awesome being able
to try new food and new dishes from another culture. Most of the Argentine eating customs are very
European and, in some ways, American in the fact that they eat each meal with a fork and a knife and
have good manners while eating. One of the most traditional meals or in fact the most traditional way to
prepare food was called asado. This was a collection of different types of cooked meats such as
salchichas (sausages), carne de res (beef), etc. I didn’t eat it however, for the people that did, it looked
quite tasty. Throughout the entire trip we experienced different kinds of delicious food. On the first day
in Buenos Aires we first stopped at a popular little restaurant called Café Tortoni. There many of us
experienced our first submarino which was a glass of hot milk in which you put a chocolate submarine.
Next for lunch we ate at a restaurant called Il Gatto where I ordered a lemon chicken dish served with
fried potato slices and for desert, a nice flan. For dinner that night we ate at a gourmet buffet with
international cuisine so there was no specifically Argentinian food. For dinner the next night we went to
an exquisite tango performance where we had a lovely dinner. I ordered chicken breast with mashed
potatoes which tasted really good. The next day we travelled by boat to go to a place called El Tigre for
lunch. El Tigre was a small island in the middle of the city that was a little secluded but very pretty.
There was a restaurant there where all the red meat eaters ate large sausages, and the non-red meat
eaters ate a plate of cheese with a salad. The taste of this cheese was very unique however and had a
very putty-like consistency which we all thought was interesting. Before heading to the city of Pilar to
see our hosts we stopped at a small restaurant where I tried some chicken empanadas, which were
quite succulent.

That night I arrived at the Taboada’s house where we ate a delicious mushroom soup that was
served with a side of rice. For the next week, breakfast was usually cereal and some biscuits with a
submarino. Lunches were served at the buffet at Colegio North Hills where we ate different pastas,
lasagnas, milanesa, and scrumptious desserts. Milanesa was a breaded meat, usually beef, however Sra.
Taboada made me a special chicken version which I thought tasted great. One Sunday for lunch the
Taboadas and I visited a restaurant called Kansas, where I ate a delicious Asian chicken pasta and we
shared a large ice cream dessert. Speaking of desserts one of the most popular dessert items there were
alfajores. Alfajores are two biscuits stuck together with a layer of dulce de leche* in the middle and then
coated with chocolate. These were very popular in Argentina and we were given one almost every day
on the bus in Buenos Aires. Another popular item that in Argentina a drink called Mate. This drink is
generally consumed from a small metal pot with a metal straw. It represents friendship and community
and is usually shared with family and friends. Another drink that is popular there is soda, almost any
kind of soda from Pepsi to 7-Up was almost more popular than water. Overall, the food and drinks were
very good, and I will not forget the amazing meals that I had there.